Why Spy Now?

The Psychology of Espionage and Leaking in the Digital Age

Dr. Ursula M. Wilder

Introduction are expanding what people mean element—ease of opportunity. During

In 2003, Studies in Intelligence when they use the term “reality.”2 the past 15 years, a prospective spy’s
published my classified article “Why access to customers for espionage via
The new technologies have, unsur- the Internet has grown exponentially,
Spy?: The Psychology of Espionage.” prisingly, precipitated changes in the
A newly unclassified version of that and media platforms seeking leakers
manifestations of spying from within have proliferated. Today, many main-
article follows this one. “Why Spy” the world of professional intelligence,
focused on the personalities, mo- stream media outlets provide “leak
where leaking now joins espionage bait” options on their websites that
tives, behaviors, and experiences of as a major threat to national security.
people who commit espionage. The allow people to anonymously deliver
Other threats from insiders include information. Professional intelligence
article also explored how unwitting sabotage and workplace violence.3
colleagues might experience a spy’s services hunting for prospective
personality and behavior during candidates for espionage now have
The model of espionage presented
day-to-day interactions in the work- Internet-enabled spotting, developing,
in the 2003 article describes three
place. Leaking was not addressed in and recruiting tools that work just as
core elements that motivate a person
2003 because it was not at the time a effectively for professional handlers
toward espionage: personality pathol-
leading threat. That has changed, and seeking candidates to manipulate
ogy or vulnerabilities, a precipitating
this essay addresses some of the rea- into espionage as they do for retailers
life crisis, and opportunity (finding a
sons for the change.a, 1 (See Textbox seeking to target customers suscepti-
safe customer for the spy’s espionage
1 on the next page for my working ble to advertising.4
services). The critical role of person-
definitions of espionage, leaking, and ality vulnerabilities has not changed For the remainder of this article,
spilling.) in today’s spies, but, as we shall see, my primary focus will be on the
the Internet and associated technolo- role of the Internet (to include social
Advances in technology—broadly gies can amplify them. Similarly, the
speaking, the Internet, mobile plat- media) in espionage and leaking.
emergence of a life crisis remains an However, other aspects of technolo-
forms, social media, and computing integral part of the decision to spy;
power—are driving unparalleled, gy, such as the physical engineering
in the digital age, technologies can and operational design of devices
epoch-defining changes in the world. exacerbate existing crises and also
Communication technologies, in par- and software, also play a potentially
generate new ones.b powerful role in priming vulnerable
ticular, have altered how people relate
to each other individually, in social persons toward spying. Our devices
The greatest impact of the new
groups, in nations, and globally, and of entry into the Internet “behave” as
technologies is in the third necessary

a. Readers interested in gaining insights into the perceptions of serving officers on the WikiLeaks website, its sponsors and supporters, and
related matters are encouraged to read the transcript of the Director of the CIA’s presentation at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies in Washington, DC, on 13 April 2017 entitled, “A Discussion on National Security with CIA Director Mike Pompeo”; available at
https://www.csis.org/analysis/discussion-national-security-cia-director-mike-pompeo. In his opening remarks, DCIA Pompeo said intelli-
gence officers are “not at liberty to stand up to . . . false narratives and explain our mission to the American people. But fortunately, I am.”

b. This is not to say technology can only have negative effects on the vulnerable. At-risk people may find online interlocutors who alleviate
loneliness and alienation in positive ways and who offer balanced views eluding people in crisis and point them toward options other than
illegal or dangerous behavior.

The views, opinions, and findings expressed in this article are those of the author and should not be construed as asserting or
implying US government endorsement of its factual statements and interpretations or representing the official positions of any
component of the United States government.

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 1

Why Spy Now?

if they have lives of their own; they

Textbox 1: Definitions
can have strong “holding power”
over the psyche of users (they are The vocabulary surrounding matters of unauthorized disclosures is in flux. For
readability and conciseness, in this article the behavior of individuals engaged
designed to have this power). People
in either espionage or leaking is referred to as “spying.” I use this word on the
whose work, play, and relation-ships premise that in both cases insider access to classified information is deliberately
are mostly mediated through abused to make unauthorized disclosures, in secret or publicly.
keyboards and devices and who Espionage. Spies engaged in espionage secretly deliver classified information
experience their engagements in the to a party the spy understands is working directly against his or her own country.
cyber realm as more rewarding than This typically involves an intermediary—a handler—who usually is a foreign
anything else in their lives are, as we intelligence service officer trained in managing agents safely and productively.
shall see, particularly vulnerable to The aim of a handler is to keep the spy undetected and the transfer of infor-
the role the Internet and associated mation ongoing and secret. For reasons of security and veracity, professional
intelligence officers rarely handle anonymous sources for long periods.
technologies can play in paving the
way to spying.5 Leaking. Spies who leak make classified information publicly available without
authorization, usually through contacts with media outlets or via the Internet.
Despite the breathtaking size and Leakers may have regular, dedicated interlocutors such as journalists, who
receive and disseminate the information. Unlike spies engaged in espionage,
pace of the social and psychologi-
most leakers are (at present) not paid or otherwise rewarded materially for their
cal change we are witnessing in the actions. Nor do their interlocutors normally engage in the kind of long-term han-
digital realm, much remains the same dling tradecraft used by professional intelligence services—although source pro-
in human nature. What we witness tection and information authentication are core missions of journalists as well.
occurring in global culture because of Spilling. The key concept in defining spilling is lack of intent. Spies engaged
technology is monumental and dis- in espionage or leaking have specific goals in mind, whereas spilling is the
ruptive, but it is also coherent to us inadvertent, unintended disclosure of information to uncleared environments,
because we recognize our universal organizations, or people.6
human needs, desires, and common
pursuits playing out in the midst of sense anchored in factual reality. The 2003 article made a dis-
the complexity and change. We can They also include negative qualities tinction between self-serving and
still rely on these universals as a solid such as treachery, greed, cruelty, mal- heroic spies; this article addresses the
basis for explanations for why people ice, duplicity, readiness to dupe and former. How professional intelli-
do what they do. Human fundamen- manipulate others for personal gain gence officers address the subject is
tals include complex positive quali- or entertainment, and susceptibility to discussed in Note 7.7 The note also
ties such as loyalty, dedication, good powerful psychological control tech- addresses a parallel distinction
faith, authentic friendship and social niques applied by experts. We should between leakers and whistleblowers.
bonds, need for real intimacy and examine what is new but keep these (See also Textbox 2 on facing page
trust, desire to belong in a communi- fundamentals in mind as anchors to for discussion of ethical dimensions
ty, curiosity, creativity, and common understanding contemporary humans of the issue.)
and their behavior and choices.

v v v

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 Why Spy Now?

What Causes Someone to Spy or Leak?

The three essential factors pre- emotions, undermine already com- Personality
disposing individuals to espionage promised judgment, and galvanize Psychologists consistently detect
or leaking classified material—dys- impulses to seize opportunities to four personality characteristics when
functions in the personality, states of obtain escape or relief through ill- they study spies: psychopathy, nar-
crisis, and opportunity—operate sym- judged negative conduct. People in cissism, immaturity, and grandiosity
biotically. Pathological personality this state are ready targets for manip- (see page 21 of “Why Spy?” for
features not balanced by healthy traits ulation and recruitment for espionage. detailed discussion of each). Some
can result in conduct that precipitates They are also primed for behavior of these features are present in the
life crises. These in turn, stress the such as leaking, if they believe it will personalities of a great many, if not
already tenuous coping capacities bring them respite and reward. most, people who will never engage
of vulnerable personalities. Crises in wrongdoing—the reader is likely
and vulnerability together intensify

Textbox 2: Observations on the Ethics of Political Disclosure of Sensitive Information

Unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or proprietary informa- ing from strong passions in American society that exert pres-
tion to the media for political purposes is an age-old feature sure on democratically elected leaders.”9
of political life and will remain a permanent fixture of any
democratic society with a free press. Those seeking political In an article in Foreign Policy, William J. Burns (former
advantages through such disclosures generally partner with deputy secretary of state) and Jared Cohen (president of
established media outlets, both to ensure an extensive au- Jigaw (previously Google Ideas) argue that “We should build
dience and to gain legitimacy; they presume that audiences a global consensus around both the need to protect the
will assume the media partner has screened and verified the integrity of financial data and systems on which the global
information before using it. Less well known is that profes- economy relies and the illegality of cyber-enabled commer-
sional members of the media usually seek comment from rel- cial espionage, making a clear distinction between tradition-
evant members of the Intelligence Community before making al espionage and wholesale commercial theft.”10 (Emphasis
public classified information they have acquired. Sometimes added.)
they will revise their drafts to mitigate credible risks described
to them by the Intelligence Community or may even withhold Apparently, in the international consensus these authors
a story when they are convinced that risks to national securi- propose to build for the cyber age, an exception will remain
ty, US citizens, or US allies or innocent persons are too high. between nations (in the tradition of a true gentlemen’s
agreement) that permits political and military espionage
A 2013 case study on leaking published in the Harvard Law against each other to continue unabated, whereas technolo-
Review hypothesizes that periodic, tumult-inducing, unau- gy-enabled commercial espionage and digital infrastructure
thorized disclosures are not caused so much by institutional destruction will be forbidden. Intelligence service officers
weak points or failures (such as feeble security measures, will be pleased that their jobs remain secure, and at least
law enforcement investigations, and prosecutions of leakers) somewhat respectable, according to the proposed rules for
but by the considered choices of high-level officials who the brave new cyber world.
benefit from lax enforcement of legal prohibitions against
unauthorized disclosures. The author further argues that, It is hard to predict where all of this is going to take us,
in subtle ways, lax enforcement benefits national security, nationally and globally; at present, we can only note that a
government efficiency, and democratic transparency more sea change is occurring in the way all levels of society view
than it harms them.8 technology and the access to information it enables. These
are major areas of ongoing discussion and conflicts on both
The Harvard Law Review published a riposte to the essay the formal governance level and on the “street” level. In
asserting that the harm caused by “high level” leaking is regard to the psychology of espionage and leaking, persons
very real, but, despite the self-evident harm, “the executive considering spying will find ample justification and support
branch has been unable and unwilling to close the ‘sluice to act on their impulses and desires in the evolving and con-
gates’ due to easily underestimated legal and technological tentious social dynamic in the public commons concerning
constraints and also because of political constraints emerg- the uses and control of technology and information.11

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 3

Why Spy Now?

thinking of such people now. In the dents who said that trolling was their their secret enjoyment of the contrast
case of spies, however, personality favorite online activity.13 Illustrative between the day-to-day, “real life”
vulnerabilities are relatively unme- of the attitudes the researchers were humdrum in their offices, surrounded
diated by other characteristics that studying was inclusion in their Likert by unwitting, duped colleagues, and
might provide a counterbalance, as scale surveys of items such as “The their charismatic, online “spy” perso-
happens with healthy personalities. more beautiful and pure a thing is, na, uninhibited and free and complete
the more satisfying it is to corrupt,” with applauding admirers, provides
A balanced personality might and “Hurting people is exciting.”14 ample reward for engaging in espio-
have a strong preference for logical nage or leaking. There is also plenty
reasoning and the detachment to The online jargon for producing of material and people online to feed
counter the impulsivity and fanta- and enjoying the distress of others is the vengeful, spiteful characteristics
sies of immaturity; a healthy person “lulz.”a The phenomenon of cruelty that are common to both psychopathy
might have empathy for others or for sport on the Internet now has its and narcissism.
respect for hard-earned expertise that own etymology (with recognized
compensates for a tendency toward usages such as “trolling” and “lulz”). People with narcissistic personali-
the egoism and sense of entitlement Trolling is highly performative be- ty features can find ample fuel online
characteristic of narcissists. Yet an- havior: beyond seizing the attention for their grandiose fantasies and
other individual might have acquired and provoking the responses of the can experience on the Internet the
a capacity to anticipate long-term targeted persons, trolls also pursue expansive, protean sense of power
consequences or a set of acceptable psychological reward by gaining the and superiority that characterizes
rules for navigating the world that attention of admiring audiences who them, complete with clusters of fans
override psychopathic thrill-seeking share their taste for “lulz.” Keeping and/or supporters spurring them on in
and a predatory approach to exploit- bad company, online and anonymous, espionage or leaking “for the great-
ing the present moment. egged on by like-minded others look- er good” or validating their desire
ing for entertainment, can stimulate a to get revenge on organizations or
Features of the Internet and asso- vulnerable personality toward many authorities they believe insufficient-
ciated technologies have the potential harmful and destructive actions, ly appreciated them or otherwise
to undermine the counterbalancing including leaking and espionage. wronged them.
traits of even healthy personalities
and pose the risk of escalating patho- For example, a person with Immature personalities, defined
logical features. Often this occurs in psychopathic personality features by difficulties separating the fic-
anonymous encounters with facilitat- might engage in espionage or leaking tions and dreams of their imagina-
ing individuals or groups who mutu- simply for the thrill of breaking tions from hard, factual reality, find
ally reinforce and validate extreme or rules and creating chaos; like trolls, plenty of scope on the Internet for
pathological viewpoints and embold- psychopaths “do it for the lulz.” For fantasy-driven activity—including
en inappropriate behavior. them, the Web is a playground and espionage and leaking—that simply
its darker elements a confirmation bypasses any consideration of con-
Online survey studies of the of their view of reality: exciting, sequence in real life (“IRL” in Web
personality features of Internet trolls Darwinian, and pitiless—a world parlance). The immature personality
conducted by a group of Canadian populated by either predator or prey. is more easily seduced into action
scholars concluded that trolls are When people such as these spy in by the seeming unreality of behavior
“prototypical everyday sadists.”12 an Intelligence Community context, in the cyber realm, actions that can
The researchers explored the links seem to disappear with the click of a
between trolling and what psy- mouse or the swipe of a fingertip.
chologists call the “dark tetrad”
a. The online Oxford Living Dictionary de-
of personality traits—narcissism, An enduring paradox of the Inter-
fines “Lulz” (also “luls”) as “fun, laughter,
Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and or amusement, especially derived at anoth- net is that while it is distinctly real
sadism—and found that the tetrad er’s expense” and describes it as “an early (it exists in material reality), it is also
was highest among survey respon- 21st century corruption of LOL or LOLZ distinctly different—and, to some,
(“Laugh Out Loud”).

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 Why Spy Now?

quite separate—from concrete reality. displeased, or psychologically threat- cal crises that are equally acute but
This is dangerous ground for those ened online, he or she can back out invisible to others might include
who do not readily distinguish be- and re-enter in a different persona, silently carried, lasting rage over
tween fact and fiction, between what not something that is possible—at perceived slights or injustices, an
resides in their imaginations, their least not to the same degree—IRL. overwhelming desire for revenge, or
desires and hopes, and what resides A user can also set aside, discard, or other deep-seated feelings or beliefs
in concrete, material reality or IRL. destroy poorly functioning or frus- that compel the vulnerable person to
In contrast, well-grounded people trating devices, again, something dif- action.
can find cyberspace exciting, even ficult to do with people. Furthermore,
enchanting, and useful to sustaining both the Internet and the associated Intelligence services have long ex-
a complex, full life—while remain- devices of entry into it appear to have ploited crisis states to recruit agents.
ing solidly anchored in the material “lives” of their own (they continue to As described in the 2003 article, un-
world and retaining good judgment act autonomously and separately scrupulous services may deliberately
about the consequences of actions from logged-off users), but the user create crises in the lives of targets to
taken in either realm. has an illusion of control because he improve recruitment prospects, for
or she can turn the devices on or off, example through escalating gambling
Psychopathy, narcissism, and thus suspending their digital lives debts or entangling the target in a
immaturity all have in common the until the user chooses to re-engage on risky sexual or romantic relationship
characteristic of grandiosity. A well- his or her own terms. Such seeming with a partner controlled by the ser-
known adage of the digital age is: sovereignty over something as global vice. Such intelligence services may
“On the Internet, everyone knows and powerful as the Internet, the also find ways to precipitate similar
you are a dog.”a, 15 It could also be people one encounters there, and the crises in the lives of family members
said that: “On the Internet everyone “thinking and behaving” machines or other loved ones in order to con-
thinks you are a hero, or a villain.” that mediate relationships can feed trol the prospective spy by offering
Our technology now makes it possi- grandiosity, at least if the tendency espionage as a solution to the loved
ble for a person to develop and ex- toward grandiosity is uncoupled from one’s predicament. (See “Why Spy?”
press multiple selves in cyberspace.16 the leveling and grounding of “real “Exploitation of the Vulnerable” on
This is a context of human interaction life.” page 34.)
and action that can feed and reward
grandiose self-perceptions.17 As we have seen, the cyber realm
A Precipitating Crisis is a hazardous environment for those
Furthermore, the Internet, and in crisis or easily led to crisis. Those
the technology and devices that give The second necessary element with a propensity for problematic or
access to it, are ostensibly under the that paves the way for spying is the pathological behavior—for example,
control of the anonymous user. If the emergence of a personal crisis of uncontrollable gambling, computer
anonymous user feels unrewarded, such intense weight and urgency gaming, spending, or sexual behav-
that the vulnerable person experi- ior—will find on the Internet remark-
ences a sense of immediate threat, ably easy ways to reach outlets for
loses perspective and judgment, and their addictions or compulsions. In
a. This is an evolution of the now-classic
adage “On the Internet, nobody knows
becomes fixated on finding a way to cases such as these, the name “World
you’re a dog,” the caption of a 1993 New put an end to the situation. The state Wide Web” is apt: psychologically
Yorker cartoon by Peter Steiner featuring of crisis may or may not be visible to vulnerable people, like insects in a
two dogs, one sitting on a chair working on friends, family, and associates. (See spider’s web, do get snared online. In
a computer, making the above observation “Why Spy?” “Precipitating Crises” addition, while they may believe they
to the other dog, seated on the floor. The on page 31.) Sources of psycho-
cartoon quickly became iconic and signaled have found relatively safe outlets
the moment when global culture recog-
logical pressure obvious to observers for their pathological or hazardous
nized the pervasive problems of identity on might include a looming bankruptcy, behavior, they are subjecting them-
the Internet, where a user can never fully imminent dismissal from work, or selves to the possibility they will
trust or know the true natures of unseen a divorce. Sources of psychologi- be tracked and risk suffering crises
interlocutors.

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Why Spy Now?

of embarrassment or becoming the For others seeking justification, escalating order of gravity, a long list
subjects of the attention of those online material assists in rationalizing of illegal goods and services acces-
eager to find and exploit vulnerable or trivializing acts such as espio- sible to paying anonymous custom-
persons. Finally, the more a person’s nage or leaking of national security ers, ranging from pirated content
online life becomes the center of his information. This nullifying effect to drugs, to legal documents (pass-
or her consciousness and motivation, of the Internet, where qualms about ports, citizenship papers, transcripts,
the more real-life, stabilizing com- espionage and leaking are neutralized professional licenses), trafficking in
mitments—to self-care, to others, by comparisons to a glut of “worse” organs and humans, and murder-for-
to community—will weaken and behavior—is often underestimated. hire. He ended the list by describing
attenuate. Work, relationships, health, FBI Special Agent Robert Hanssen a site that offered the opportunity to
financial status, and lifestyles suffer made this argument when he stated witness through live streaming the
for people who have arrived at this to an interviewer who was sharply worst acts of child abuse—while
point, causing the kinds of tangible, challenging him to recognize the interacting with other paying anony-
IRL crises that might bring a per- consequences of his espionage, “In mous customers and the perpetrators.
son with access to national security the whole march of history, a little Goodman called this the very center
information to the attention of hostile espionage doesn’t amount to a hill of hell, and concluded that “the In-
intelligence services, and from there of beans.” (See “Why Spy?” “Rob- ternet provides a delivery system for
lead them into espionage. ert Hanssen: Self-Designated Cold pathological states of mind.”
Warrior” on page 30 for a review
More subtly, in a context in which of the case.) Today’s spies need not The Dark Web is also an educa-
seemingly complete anonymity turn to human history to find ways to tion in nihilism. A prospective spy
enables the expression of all desires, minimize their behavior; they need can find there sufficient reason to dis-
no matter how deviant, dangerous, only visit the Dark Web in the present card doubts and move forward into
or harmful to others, no brakes on moment and see what transpires espionage or leaking. After such ex-
behavior exist other than those a per- there.a posure, for those with compromised
son already possesses when entering moral compasses, espionage seems
cyberspace. For the group of people In his book on Internet crime, trivial and leaking seems a lark.
we are discussing—people with per- former FBI futurist-in-residence, People with strong inherent moral
sonality pathologies, in crisis—these Interpol advisor, and police officer compasses and an uncompromised
brakes are often already weak and Marc Goodman devoted a section capacity to stay grounded in con-
likely to grow weaker. to the Dark Web entitled “Into the crete reality understand that behavior
Abyss.”18 He used the metaphor of online has consequences in real life,
For those with moral qualms, Dante’s circles of hell to provide, in such as the real plight of child and
Internet content can provide justifica- adult victims in Internet-mediated
tion for behavior that leads to crises crimes.
and to subsequent illegal choices. a. The Dark Web forms a small part of the
That justification can come from Deep Web, which is the part of the Web
not indexed by search engines. Because of
online dialogue with kindred spirits Ease of Opportunity
free software, anonymity in the Dark Web
or with more focused interlocutors is at present almost unbreakable, enabling The third necessary element in
such as intelligence service officers, hackers, terrorists, gangsters of every sort, spying is connecting with a customer,
e.g., agent recruiters, pursuing their pedophiles, and other criminals to transact
their business there in safety, unless they
patron, or platform interested in the
own goals through manipulating a
become subject to their own “insider threat” information on offer. It is in this third
person’s crisis. Platforms seeking
(undercover police informants, for exam- element that the greatest changes
leakers may also manipulate a vul-
ple). More positively, the Dark Web also have occurred since the publication
nerable person who is experiencing provides a venue in which political dissi- of “Why Spy?” (See “Elements of
what he or she perceives as a crisis of dents and others with positive or non-crim- Espionage” on page 20.) Those
conscience. inal intent are able to communicate and
collaborate in relative safety. (See Kristin
currently seeking to connect with
Finklea, Dark Web, Congressional Research customers or platforms for either
Service Report R44101, 10 March 2017.) espionage or leaking now have many

6 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy Now?

more possibilities and opportunities agents engaged in espionage. Han- Leaking

to explore via the Internet. Those dlers work hard to stabilize their Such stabilization is generally not
considering leaking have a dizzy- agents once they have started spying, the case for leakers, many of whom
ing array of possible online venues because operational security and seek immediate rewards and visible
to leak to as well as the promise of maintaining cover are paramount in impact on a global scale, now achiev-
global dissemination of the infor- sustaining the espionage, and unsta- able via the Internet. The attention of
mation they provide. Many websites ble agents cannot attend to either. others is for many the main currency
now include instructions for potential For example, a handler will work of reward online, and being noticed
leakers, and these customers or pa- to prevent an agent from pursuing and famous is often the primary
trons provide the option for anonym- attention and affirmation by show- psychological reward pursued by
ity, at least initially.19 It should be boating online, will step in to head leakers.20 Psychologically gratify-
noted that, in contrast to media, pro- off or settle crises in the life of the ing attention can come in the form
fessional intelligence services do not agent (somewhat ironically, given of either fame or infamy—even if
generally handle anonymous agents the critical prerecruitment role of life the leaker’s name is never revealed.
for reasons of safety and veracity. crises in priming potential agents to In many cases leakers get a double
consider espionage), and if the agent dose of attention and reward: intense
is motivated by the desire to earn responses from admirers and oppo-
The Experience of Spying a place in history, the handler will nents, who engage in vituperative
After Making the Connec- provide reassurances about the spy’s conflicts with each other, adding lulz
tion and Commitment impact and offer substitutes for the to the reward accruing to the leaker.
Espionage missed acclaim. Keeping a watchful As a result, encouraged and validated
The information age has altered eye on and reducing the destabilizing and absent the stabilizing presence
the environment for professional elements of the Internet in the agent’s of a professional handler, leakers
intelligence officers handling agents, life is part of contemporary profes- will tend to intensify their activities,
not just in how they spot and recruit sional intelligence officer tradecraft. chasing more acclaim, excitement, a
potential spies but also in managing sense of power and efficacy—until
they are unmasked.

v v v

Remedies, Risk Management, and a Caution

My focus throughout this article behavior or in their circumstances; Actively Counter Loneli-
has been on the human dimension we still must provide support to trou- ness and Safeguard and
of espionage and leaking, not on bled employees to help them through Build the Community
specific counterintelligence and their crises and return to productivity
The psychological malady of the
security tools, programs, or tech- and a sense of belonging to the com-
digital age—paradoxically, given its
niques. The recommendations I made munity at work.
positive, extraordinary capacity to
in 2003 remain as relevant today as
These measures, necessary and connect millions across the globe—is
they were then. (See “Remedies and
still vital, are not, however, suffi- loneliness and its close cousin, alien-
Risk Management” on page 35.)
cient anymore. In “Why Spy?” I also ation. These conditions do not apply
Safeguarding entry points into Intel-
suggested broad programs of educa- pervasively, of course. For the major-
ligence Community agencies through
tion and community-building. In the ity of people, digital connectivity is
applicant screening remains a corner-
digital era, these are now keystones just one more way to initiate, sustain,
stone of institutional risk mitigation
to mitigating the risk of employees’ or complement healthy interpersonal
against insider threats. We also still
becoming spies. relationships. As noted throughout
need programs designed to spot and
this article, however, the Internet is a
address warning signs in employees’
dangerous place for the vulnerable—

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 7

Why Spy Now?

those who struggle with relationships to the mission and experiences of ings and gatherings. This occasion-
IRL, and may be alienated from other professional intelligence officers. ally inconvenient (sometimes very
aspects of real life, or those who find inconvenient) but necessary secu-
themselves temporarily alone and at Volunteer employee groups rity requirement may disappear at
loose ends. should be actively supported, provid- some point but at present we should
ed senior sponsors, and validated by celebrate our simple, yet profound,
In the face of the risks exacerbat- the attention of senior leaders, and difference from the rest of the work-
ed or caused by loneliness and alien- these groups should be encouraged to ing world: we converse with each
ation, frequent organizationally spon- reach out to colleagues who seem to other, rather than with our screens, in
sored events in workplaces—with need help in connecting with commu- the “open” moments before and after
people in physical attendance, not nity. In the digital era, such elements meetings, in the cafeteria, and in our
virtually present—have never been of community life in intelligence hallways. We have opportunities to
more critical to counterintelligence. agencies have moved from being break away from the “holding pow-
When vulnerable employees are em- “nice to have” morale-builders to er” of our devices and are therefore
bedded in communities in which they critical features of security and coun- able to enjoy the best of both the
feel they belong and are accepted, the terintelligence risk mitigation. digital world and the concrete, IRL,
risk of their acting on their vulnera- material world.
bilities in times of personal crisis is The Intelligence Community can
mitigated. They will be less prone also fight digital fire with fire by
to seek connections and relief in the encouraging its online, secure, clas- A Caution: The Phenome-
dangerous domains of the Internet or sified “village commons” to flourish
nology of Surveillancea
susceptible to relationships offered and grow, including supporting those
commons as venues for expressions Big data, allied with machine
by those seeking to manipulate and
of creativity, opinion, critique, and learning and cognitive computing,
exploit them.
even dissent. We can count on the has ushered in an amazing pano-
Examples of significant tradi- lack of anonymity in these online ply of digital surveillance methods
tions and community-building at government-sponsored venues to purporting to evaluate, profile, and
CIA include annual events such as avert the ills that plague the open predict the behavior of people,
Family Day and Combined Federal Internet: trolling, harassment, bully- based on the record of their activ-
Campaign (CFC) fundraising events ing, hacking, and the like. At present ities online.22 New technological
before the winter holidays, during our secure, classified online venues tools collect and exploit the trail of
which offices and teams develop cre- parallel the best of Internet values information—sometimes labeled
ative methods, including book sales and provide a precious insider-threat “digital exhaust”—that all people
and auctions, to raise funds—one risk-mitigating resource that must be leave in IT systems as they go about
particularly memorable fundraiser protected despite potential disclosure their normal activities at work and
was the auctioning of a gingerbread risks.21 Efforts to manage the risks in their personal lives. Big data and
replica of the model of Usama Bin that come from permitting open, computing power together allow an
Ladin’s compound used in planning online discourse should be devised in individual’s present behavior to be
the SEAL operation against him in ways that protect the current vibrancy evaluated against his or her personal
2011. Also important is the commem- of this classified cyber community, baseline of past behavior; changes
oration of those lost in service held because the vitality and the bonds and anomalies—for good or ill—can
at CIA’s Memorial Wall each May. created there will spill over into the be flagged and analyzed. Proponents
Presentations by outside speakers in Intelligence Community.
the Headquarters auditorium that are
One of the hidden benefits of the a. Phenomenology is a specialized branch
open to all employees and attended of philosophy and psychology that studies
and moderated by senior leaders have prohibition of most portable personal
subjective experience. Here I address how
also become highly popular opportu- devices in Intelligence Community people subjectively experience surveillance
nities for the workforce to gather and buildings is connection; people are when they are aware of being subject to it
consider issues and ideas important not locked into their screens in meet- and how people subjectively experience the
process of surveilling others.

8 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy Now?

of such methods assert that they can heated cultural debate surrounding mines loyalty to the organization.
be used to expose in intimate detail surveillance and privacy issues can Furthermore, blanket surveillance
the psyche driving behavior, includ- be framed in many ways: political, methods risk flattening a culture into
ing assessing and predicting the legal, philosophical/ethical, and insti- blandness and dulling its creative
current and potential risks individuals tutional risk management, as well as edge. (See the “Appendix: Consider-
present to systems, to others, and to in terms of individual personality dif- ations on the State of Surveillance in
themselves. ferences in support of and tolerance Democratic Societies,” beginning on
for surveillance.25 For the purposes of page 11.)
For example, some elements of this article, I focus on research that
spoken and written language unrelat- sheds light on how people experience Finally, it is important to be wary
ed to the content or meaning being surveillance psychologically and of the long-term, eroding effects
communicated—behaviors such as the potential consequences of those of blanket, intrusive, or shadowy
a person’s habitual choice of words, experiences on individual psyches surveillance on the composition of
repeated use of certain grammatical and therefore on their attitudes and teams or across an organization’s
structures, tempo, and syntax—can behavior. workforce. Social and behavioral
shed light on a person’s identity, science research has demonstrated
background (regional and education- What the research shows is that that there are individual differences
al), state of mind, and emotions at people dislike being surveilled.26 in attitudes toward and tolerance of
the moment of communication. The Most, however, will tolerate some workplace surveillance. Technol-ogy-
“sentiments” expressed by oth- level of intrusion, if they believe driven assessment and surveil-lance
ers—such as colleagues, neighbors, it is necessary for institutional and tools pervading a workplace are
friends, and even family members— social safety and to maintain order.27 likely to repel highly autonomous,
about a particular person can be The surveillance, however, must be creative, questioning people who
collected and assessed using the same experienced as fair and transparent; then self-select themselves out of the
methods corporations use to track the consensus from studies in man- team or organization, leaving be-
public sentiments surrounding their agement science in this area is that hind a concentrated group of people
brands.23 honest communication with employ- whose temperaments tend toward
ees—and citizens—about the specific caution, order, and safety, and who
Currently employers, private nature of and need for surveillance are comfortable with established
corporations, politicians, and gov- is critical to gaining acceptance and systems for security and institutional
ernments are applying these and compliance. Being able to judge for control. Over time, the “diversity of
other data analysis tools to assess, themselves if the level of surveillance mind and temperament” necessary
influence, and monitor persons and is reasonable and knowing with some for an intellectually fresh, creative
groups. The promise of such tech- specificity about the methods used re- organization is damaged by systemat-
niques to assist security and counter- turns some of the personal autonomy ic loss of certain types of productive,
intelligence insider-threat programs that surveillance inevitably removes psychologically healthy people, irre-
is self-evident, but there are risks and recalibrates the relationship of spective of which type they happen
that must be taken into account in trust and fair-dealing between the to be.
using them and costs to be tallied and surveillors and the surveilled.
weighed against promised benefits.
(See Textbox 3, which addresses this Government reports have reached Active Support for CI
point, on the following page.) the same conclusions. An atmosphere and Security Officers
of constant observation that is per-
There exists a robust body of In this dawning digital age, those
ceived to be aimed at control rather
empirical research in the social and responsible for protecting employees
than stopping wrongdoing breeds
behavioral sciences tallying the and information in the Intelligence
resentment and a tendency toward
potential negative effects on people Community have extraordinarily dif-
hidden protest; such surveillance at
and organizations of pervasive sur- ficult jobs. Pre-Internet and pre-digi-
work undermines morale and produc-
veillance.24 The current complex and tal methods still apply somewhat, but
tivity, increases stress, and under-
new technology-driven risks prolifer-

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 9

Why Spy Now?

the-art security methods against the

Textbox 3: Weighing Costs and Benefits—Security at Fort Detrick
in the Wake of the 2001 Anthrax Attacks importance of also protecting the
scope of responsibility, access to in-
The week after the 9/11 terrorist attack, letters containing anthrax spores were formation, capacity for informal open
mailed to several news media offices and to two US Senators over the course discussion with peers that broadens
of several weeks, killing five people and infecting over a dozen more. After a thinking and lends unexpected, fresh
long and complex investigation, the FBI homed in on microbiologist Bruce Ivens,
a senior biodefense researcher at the US Army Medical Research Institute of
perspective to important questions,
Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Ivens committed and the fundamental inquisitiveness,
suicide in July 2008 while anticipating his imminent arrest. The investigation openness, and trust necessary to
had revealed that Ivens had longstanding severe psychiatric conditions; several sustain a creative, engaged, and agile
mental health professionals who had treated him over the years considered him workforce. Counterintelligence and
highly dangerous to them, to himself, and others. At work he had shown behav- security officers wrestling with these
ior ranging from the eccentric to the bizarre.
always exigent, but now intensify-
After it was created in 2002, the Department of Homeland Security established ing, dilemmas need our full support,
the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC). The not just in concrete resources, but in
center soon developed a program—Personnel Reliability Program (PRP)—to recognition of the enormity of what
identify specific psychological characteristics to be assessed in “more compre- they face and the daily tough deci-
hensive” security evaluations of scientists and technicians and other “agents”
working with the most dangerous biological materials. The PRP-recommended
sions they must make to safeguard
characteristics to be evaluated are: mental alertness, mental and emotional sta- their organizations, colleagues, and
bility, trustworthiness, freedom from unstable medical conditions, dependability in our common mission.
accepting responsibilities, effective performance, flexibility in adjusting to change,
good social adjustment, ability to exercise sound judgment [in emergencies], free-
dom from drug/alcohol abuse and dependence, compliance with requirements, Conclusion
and a positive attitude toward the Personnel Reliability Program (PRP).28
Today’s intelligence officers
Setting aside for the sake of argument the infeasibility—on a technical assess- know they are serving in tumultuous,
ment level—of psychologically screening personnel for these characteristics exciting, astonishing, and dangerous
with any degree of scientific reliability and validity, taken together they depict a
times. In every generation, a few
certain type of person: dependable, responsible, comfortable complying with au-
thority and rules, conscientious, socially and emotionally stable, and predictable. insiders have chosen the destructive
If people could be hired and retained on the basis of these criteria, dangerous path of betrayal and harmed them-
biological agents would certainly be in good hands. On the other hand, would a selves, their families, their nation,
research program staffed solely with this type of person perform with insightful, and many others who trusted in the
prescient, inventive science? While the PRP’s criteria might reduce the insider United States to keep them safe.
threat in USAMRIID labs, the ability of the resulting team to carry out its missions
Three things keep loyal insiders
through innovative, cutting-edge science might also be compromised.
going when news breaks of another
case of espionage or leaking by one
ate, adapt, or mutate before counter- when military professionals relying
of our own: our personal commit-
measures can be fully conceived, on horses were first confronted with
ment to our mission; our bonds of
tested, and applied. For leaders and tanks must have been terrifying, as
trust with our colleagues and teams;
officers serving in the domains of were those when infantrymen faced
and the example of the generations of
security and counterintelligence, the barrages of artillery and machine gun
patriots who served before us, who
situation today is analogous to the fire unimaginable previously.
also weathered betrayals by some of
challenges faced by military leaders
We are confronting such a seismic their own. So we keep faith, serve
and combat commanders at the dawn
moment now in the world of profes- the Constitution with integrity and to
of mechanized warfare in the early
sional intelligence. In addition, secu- the best of our abilities, and expect to
20th century. Horse cavalry even-
rity and counterintelligence officers pass the torch on to a new generation
tually became armored cavalry, and
have to manage, as never before, the of officers who will do the same.
“best practices” in the craft and art
of tank warfare became normative, core dilemma of balancing the need
v v v
but the moments on the battlefields for technology augmented, state-of-

10 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy Now?

Appendix: Considerations on the State of Surveillance in Democratic Societies

The discussion within democrat- ogy-driven surveillance process as White House Review Group, 2013
ic societies about the abundance of follows: Similarly, a 2013 report to the
data, computing power, privacy and White House from the President’s
security (some frame this as a polit- Effective monitoring tools . . . Review Group on Intelligence and
ical conflict between civil rights and take advantage of technology to Communications Technologies rec-
government surveillance) is ongoing. surpass standard [personnel] ommended the following:
Below are some highlights for con- screening. . . . In particular,
sideration. advanced text analytics and All personnel with access to
psycholinguistic tools that track classified information should be
George Orwell, 1984 an employee’s communications included in a Personnel Con-
Orwell’s classic 1949 novel has across social media and other tinuous Monitoring Program
enjoyed a resurgence in popularity platforms to detect life stressors (PCMP). The PCMP would
because of renewed focus on privacy and analyze sentiment can help access both internally available
issues and fear of totalitarian govern- detect potential issues early. . . . and commercially available in-
ment control enabled by technology.29 Another critical element is formation, such as credit scores,
The novel explores the psychology improving the sharing of infor- court judgments, traffic viola-
of surveillance from the perspective mation within the organizations tions, and other arrests. (239)
of the surveilled. Orwell counted on among managers, human re-
his readers’ intuitive understanding sources, information technology The authors added:
of the motives of a protagonist who (IT), security, and legal advisers
We recognize that such a pro-
would risk everything to secure a bit regarding minor counterproduc-
gram could be seen by some as
of privacy in a world characterized tive work behaviors that may
an infringement of the privacy
by “Big Brother’s” oversight of every indicate an employee struggling
of federal employees and con-
aspect of life. The novel’s enduring and at heightened risks of com-
tractors. . . . But, employment in
power results from the readers’ empa- mitting a malicious act.
government jobs with access to
thy for the fictional Winston Smith’s
The INSA document notes that special intelligence or special
effort to resist, and his ultimate fail-
this “continuous monitoring” ap- classified programs is not a
ure to attain even a small measure of
proach to mitigating insider threat right . . . we believe that those
autonomy, making it one of the great
might have implications for “work- with the greatest amount of ac-
tragic novels in the Western canon.
place morale,” “civil liberties,” and cess to sensitive programs and
INSA, 2017 concludes that each organization information should be subject
In April 2017 the Intelligence and must arrive at its own culture-driven to Additional Monitoring . . .
National Security Alliance (INSA) decisions about the optimal balance (240–41)31
published a list of state-of-the-art sur- of privacy and security in the organi-
The House of Lords, 2009
veillance tools available to organiza- zation:
In February 2009, the British
tions interested in mitigating insider
In the end, this is a critical risk Parliament received a document from
risks, particularly in the national
management exercise for senior a House of Lords committee titled
security context.30 The document
leaders in all organizations as Surveillance: Citizens and State.32
suggested mitigating insider threat
the destructive power of ma- It reported the results of a general
through “leveraging innovative tech-
licious insiders grows and the review of methods and practices and
nology and data sources to monitor
tools to monitor and mitigate included recommendations for future
and evaluate individuals on a contin-
become more sophisticated and actions. It also described concerns
uous basis” and noted that the listed
intrusive. that ubiquitous surveillance is chang-
computer-based tools could assist in
ing the relationship between citizen
“swift, continuous identification and
and state.
assessment.” It defined the technol-

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 11

Why Spy Now?

The report quoted a professor Several years ago London was surveillance, can cause by eroding
of sociology and deputy director of suffering from a nail bombing bonds of trust within society, par-
Criminological Research at the Uni- campaign by an individual ticularly between those who control
versity of Sheffield: . . . targeting specific parts of the surveillance and those being
London with his nail bombs surveilled. He asks, hypothetically, if
Mass surveillance promotes and there were extremist groups you would you rather attend Scrutiny
the view . . . that everybody is claiming responsibility for the College, where examination rooms
untrustworthy. If we are gather- actions. That event was entirely are equipped with several cameras
ing data on people all the time supported by CCTV evidence in and jammers prevent the use of pri-
on the basis that they may do terms of actually detecting the vate devices for cheating, or Probity
something wrong, this is pro- crime. What value do you put on College, where students are trusted to
moting a view that as citizens the price of that detection?(21) abide by an ethics code. The philoso-
we cannot be trusted. (27) pher argues that blanket surveillance
Emrys Westacott, 2010 aimed at control undermines the ideal
The report also described the Philosopher Emrys Westacott that persons in society will behave
distinct social gains—tangible and begins a 2010 article in Philosophy responsibly because they want to, out
perceived—of broad surveillance Now by asking if Adam and Eve of love and respect for themselves
programs, particularly in countering would have eaten the forbidden apple and others. He concludes that too
terrorism and crime, and it summa- had God installed CCTV cameras in much monitoring destroys the free
rized empirical data suggesting that Eden.33 A more serious discussion bonds between people in societies; it
most citizens support the counterter- follows this amusing opening in weakens the internal moral compass-
rorism and crime-fighting functions which Westacott explores the distinct es of both the people and their soci-
of surveillance. The report quoted pragmatic social benefits that derive ety. He also concludes, however, that
a senior constable and chair of The from some forms of surveillance not enough surveillance of people’s
Association of Chief Police Offi- (for example, from traffic cameras) behavior results in a lawless state, as
cers CCTV Working Group, who and also the harms that too much we have seen on the Dark Web.
said: surveillance, or certain forms of

v v v

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 Why Spy Now?

Notes and Sources:

1. Author Note: When I was drafting my first article on the psychology of espionage 15 years ago, I relied on a long and estab-
lished history of classified and unclassified scholarship on espionage that has accrued since the establishment of CIA’s forebear,
the OSS, in WWII. In contrast to the robust, longstanding literature that was then available to me, this essay on the psychology
of digital-age spying must be more provisional. The current social and cultural contexts—in real life, online, domestically, and
globally—are developing too rapidly to arrive at definitive conclusions about all of the elements at the core of the psyches and
behavior of today’s spies, particularly how they experience their espionage and leaking and the people, groups, and technologies
assisting them in spying.
2. Cyber vs. Material Reality: Some argue that cyber reality is a part of material reality because it exists; however, the anchors of
time, place, and physical contact are different in the digital and the concrete realms. For purposes of discussing how vulnerable
people experience both cyber and concrete reality and navigate between the two psychologically, they are treated as distinct in
this article, though there are some who would dispute this distinction and consider it as arbitrary as the mind/body division.
3. Evolving Insider Threat Model: In the past decade the model of “insider threat”—applicable to both private and public sec-
tors—has evolved, and is commonly understood to include five types of threats from people inside organizations: spills, leaks,
espionage, sabotage, and workplace violence. The focus of this essay is on those who leak and commit espionage. The five types
of threats can overlap: leaking and espionage can include elements of sabotage and even workplace violence because the spy’s
underlying intent may be aggressive, aimed at harming an organization and sometimes targeting specific individuals for danger
or distress. CIA officer William Kampiles, for example, said that one of his reasons for committing espionage was to get back at
his supervisor who had not supported his desire to leave his entry-level job as a watch officer prematurely in order to gain entry
into the operational domain. (See: “Why Spy?”: “William Kampiles: Self-Styled Special Agent” on page 28.) FBI Special
Agent Robert Hanssen was bitterly angry at and contemptuous of the FBI when he spied for the Russians. (See: “Why Spy?”:
“Robert Hanssen: Self-Designated Cold Warrior” on page 30.) Sometimes the danger and violence to others is secondary to
the primary goals of the spy; danger to others might be an inevitable and predictable outcome of the espionage. In some cases
the spy deliberately pursues harming others as a safeguard against being caught. Many Soviet citizens spying for the United
States lost their lives when Aldrich Ames deliberately identified them to his Soviet handlers in order to prevent them from alert-
ing their CIA handlers that there was a mole in CIA, which would have triggered an internal counterintelligence investigation,
endangering Ames. By his own admission, Ames was purely driven by money, and he equated the risks he was taking for the
Soviets to those Russian agents were taking when spying for the United States. In support of this article’s theme of personality
pathology and espionage, the author notes the psychopathic nature of Ames’s rationalization of his ruthless elimination of those
endangering him, and yet he remains alive, albeit in prison for life. In contrast, most of the agents he identified to the Soviets
eventually were executed in Soviet prisons.
4. For examples of the application of such means in the corporate world, see Doug Laney, “Data as Corporate Asset: Private Sector
Applications of Data Science” in Studies in Intelligence 61, No. 1 (March 2017).
5. Mind and Machines: For classics and contemporary overviews of the psychological effects of machines, devices, and tech-
nology on humans and culture, see: Louis Mumford, Technics & Civilization (Harcourt, Inc, 1934); Sherry Turkle, The Second
Self: Computers and the Human Spirit (Simon & Shuster, 1984) and (MIT Press, 2005); Sherry Turkle, Life on the Screen:
Identity in the Age of the Internet (Touchstone, 1997); Sherry Turkle, The Inner History of Devices (MIT Press, 2008); James
Gleick, The Information (Pantheon Books, 2005); Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains (W.W.
Norton, 2011); Kirsten Weir, “(Dis)Connected: Psychologists’ Research Shows How Smartphones are Affecting Our Health and
Well-Being, and Points the Way Toward Taking Back Control,” American Psychological Association Monitor 48, No. 3 (March
2017): 42.
6. Spilling and J.K. Rowling. A spill may be caused by misjudgments or accidental inclusion of classified materials with doc-
uments authorized for release, or by skilled elicitors who induce people to say more than they should or intend. Sometimes
spillers remain unaware of the spillage, whereas spies always know they are spying. In the digital age, spills may be caused by
technical errors involving little human agency. A famous example of spilling is the revelation in July 2013 that Harry Potter
author J.K. Rowling was also the author “Robert Galbraith,” a pseudonym Rowling had used to publish an adult detective novel.
Rowling’s identity was spilled by one of Rowling’s lawyers, who had inappropriately discussed the book with his wife’s best
friend and revealed the author’s true name. The friend then tweeted about it to a columnist. Responding to the resulting firestorm
of speculation, the lawyer’s firm confirmed Rowling’s authorship in a statement that included the following language, which
illustrates the unwanted, unintentional element of spilling: “We, Russells Solicitors, apologise unreservedly for the disclosure
caused by one of our partners, Chris Gossage, in revealing to his wife’s best friend, Judith Callegari, during a private conversa-

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Why Spy Now?

tion that the true identity of Robert Galbraith was in fact J. K. Rowling. Whilst accepting his own culpability, the disclosure was
made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly.” (See Jon Stock, “J.K. Rowling unmasked: the lawyer, the wife, her tweet
—and a furious author, ” The Telegraph, 21 July 2013. Also at www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10192275.)
7. The Heroic vs. Self-serving Spy: This article focuses on self-serving spies or those who have been manipulated or coerced.
There is another type of person who commits espionage: the genuinely heroic spy. A critical element of a professional intelli-
gence officer’s expertise is the ability to accurately assess the true, underlying conscious or unconscious motives of sources.
The evaluators begin by first registering, then looking beyond, the self-images of sources and testing the stated motives against
the tangible and emotional benefits actually accruing to them. An officer’s true assessment can be quite different from what the
officer purveys to a source during handling interactions. Professional officers are trained to use observation, critical thinking,
vetting techniques, comparisons with what is known from studies of past cases of espionage, and above all expert judgment to
distinguish between sources who are genuinely heroic, and those who are not. Officers also submit their assessments to the scru-
tiny of their peers, particularly counterintelligence officers who independently evaluate sources and ensure that what is on record
about a source’s motives for espionage is unbiased and accurate and handling methods are appropriately matched to the source’s
true motives. While self-serving, manipulated, or coerced spies are the subject of this article, it is important to remember that
heroic ones do exist and that their personalities, the crises that led them to spy, and the handling tradecraft appropriate for them
are different from those of other types. There is also a distinction—psychological as well as legal—between whistleblowers,
who use legal channels to address their ethical or other workplace concerns, and leakers, who bypass legal, authorized channels
of redress. Readers who wish to explore the distinctions may be interested in the recently published, newspaper opinion piece
written by a Washington, DC, lawyer who handles classified matters and represents whistleblowers in the national security field:
Mark S. Zaid, “Reality Winner Isn’t a Whistleblower—Or a Victim of Trump’s War on Leaks,” Washington Post, 8 June 2017.
See also on this subject, US Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration, The Whistleblower Protection
Programs, at https://www.whistleblowers.gov.
8. David E. Pozen, “The Leaky Leviathan: Why the Government Condemns and Condones Unlawful Disclosures of Information,”
Harv. L. Rev. 127, No. 2 (20 December 2013).
9. Rahul Sagar, “Creaky Leviathan: A Comment on David Pozen’s Leaky Leviathan,” Harv. L. Rev. 127, No. 2 (20 December
2013).
10. William J. Burns and Jared Cohen, “The Rules of the Brave New Cyberworld,” Foreign Policy.com (16 February 2017).
11. Disclosures in the Private Sector: The ethical, legal, and media dynamics surrounding the leaking of classified government in-
formation also apply to disclosures of private-sector sensitive or proprietary corporate information. These issues were the central
themes, for example, of the film “The Insider,” which was based on the true story of a former tobacco industry senior executive
and scientist who worked with a reporter to disclose his former employer’s effort to suppress information demonstrating that the
company was aware of and manipulated the addictive components of cigarettes. The story was originally carried in Vanity Fair.
(Marie Brenner, “Whistleblower: The Man Who Knew Too Much,” May 1996). The article and movie also touched on questions
about the scientist’s mental stability, motives, and veracity.
12. Trolls and Trolling: The exact definitions of Internet “trolling” or “trolls” are evolving in tandem with changes in technology.
Roughly speaking, there are two broad categories of trolls. Some primarily troll instrumentally and some primarily for fun or
“for the lulz”—a variant of LOL, “laugh out loud,” in Internet jargon. They differ psychologically in important ways. Those
who engage in online manipulation, attack, and sabotage chiefly in pursuit of some other goal, most often financial profit (for
example, those who are paid to disrupt commercial websites), may find only limited pleasure in the trolling itself. Their sense
of reward (what psychologists call “emotional benefits”) comes from achieving the primary goal, such as getting paid. The
pleasure-seeking trolls do so for the inherent emotional reward (the “lulz”) they generate in the behavior itself. The difference
between the instrumental type and the lulz-seeking type is akin to the difference between a professional hit man, for whom
killing is an emotionally neutral “professional” act that leads to a secondary reward, and a killer whose gratification resides in
the act of killing itself, such as, for example, the sense of god-like power it brings or sadistic pleasure in the suffering of victims.
Engaging in destruction for personal gain or for pleasure—an age-old practice among human beings—like so much else in real
life has found new expression in cyberspace.
13. Readings on Trolls: E. E. Buckels, Paul D. Tranpnell, and Delroy L. Paulhus, “Trolls just want to have fun.” Personality and
Individual Differences 67 (2014):97–102. See also: N. Craker and E. March, “The Dark Side of Facebook: The Dark Tetrad,
negative social potency, and trolling behaviors,” Personality and Individual Differences 102 (2016): 79–84. For an early study of
the decreased self-monitoring, decreased self-evaluation, and the disinhibiting and de-individuation effects of anonymity online,
see: Sara Kiesler, Jane Siegel, Timothy.W. McGuire, “Social psychological aspects of computer-mediated communication,”

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American Psychologist 39, No. 10 (October, 1984): 1123–34. For a somewhat different take on trolling that examines how it
may not be wholly deviant behavior because it corresponds to and fits comfortably within the contemporary media landscape,
readers are directed to Whitney Phillips,“Internet Troll Sub-Culture’s Savage Spoofing of Mainstream Media,” Scientific Amer-
ican, 15 May 2015. The article is excerpted from a book by the same author, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Mapping
the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture (MIT Press, 2015).
14. This specific survey item from the research cited immediately above was reported by Chris Mooney in Slate, on 14 February
2014, in an article titled: “Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People: Narcissistic, Machiavellian, psychopathic, and sadistic.”
See http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2014/02/internet_troll_personality_study_machiavellian-
ism_narcissism_psychopathy.html.
15. Dogs on the Internet: In 2017, the New York Daily News published a cartoon by Bill Bramhall that played off of the 1993 New
Yorker cartoon and resulting canine-at-a-keyboard meme. The new cartoon captured current alarms about surveillance, dimin-
ished or impossible online privacy, and the use of data analytics by private corporations and public agencies to profile, track, and
target users who wish to remain incognito when they surf, work, or shop online. Bramhall’s cartoon features a solitary dog at his
computer confronting a full-screen pop-up advertisement showing a can of dogfood with the caption “You might like ALPO.” A
word bubble shows the dog thinking: “Whatever happened to ‘On the Internet nobody knows you are a dog’?”
16. Turkle, The Inner History of Devices and Identity on the Web.
17. Internet Aliases: Anonymous online aliases, rhetoric and slogans often hint at the slyness of psychopathy, the egotism of nar-
cissism, and the fantasies of immaturity. For example, some famous hacker handles are Scorpion, SOLO (which gestures to the
allure of being a lone operator and also to the Star Wars character), MafiaBoy, Gigabyte, cOmrade, “why the lucky stiff” (some-
times abbreviated “_why”), Dread Pirate Roberts, Poison League, Commander X. According to the global computer magazine
PCWorld, the British hacker SOLO left a message on a compromised machine that read: “US foreign policy is akin to Govern-
ment-sponsored terrorism these days . . . I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels.” (http://www.pcworld.com/
article/2989146/security/infamy-and-alias-11-famous-hackers-and-their-online-handles.html#slide1). A famous online motto is
this clever but also barbed inversion, from the hacking group Anonymous, of biblical stories of demonic possession and New
Testament values: “We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”
18. The Onion Router: Tor (“The Onion Router”) is the most popular gateway into the Dark Web. It is free software, enabling
anonymous communication through encryption and multiple peer-to-peer Internet relay channels designed to hide users’ IP
addresses from those interested in tracking them. The result is an untraceable, secure platform that conceals users’ location and
usage. The concept of “onion routing” (the underlying metaphor is that pursuing an anonymous user through multiple relays
is like peeling an onion, never arriving at the core) was developed in the mid-1990s by a mathematician allied with computer
scientists at the US Naval Research Laboratory in order to protect US intelligence online communications.
19. Leak Bait: Sue Halpern, in her review of Risk, a documentary portrait of Julian Assange (“The Nihilism of Julian Assange,”
The New York Review of Books, 13 July 2017: 15), writes: “Almost every major newspaper, magazine, and website now has a
way for leakers to upload secret information, most through an anonymous, online, open-sourced drop box called Secure Drop
. . . The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Forbes, and The Intercept, to name just a few, all have a way
for people to pass secrets along to journalists.”
20. Keith Hampton, Lauren Sessions Goulet, Cameron Marlow, and Lee Rainie, “Why Most Facebook Users Get More Than They
Give”, PEW Internet and American Life Project, 3 February 2012, at http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/02/03/why-most-face-
book-users-get-more-than-they-give; Sherry Turkle, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each
Other (Basic Books, 2011).
21. Positive Internet Values: In an article in The Wall Street Journal titled “The Dark Side of the Digital Revolution” (19 April
2013), Google’s executive chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt and Google Ideas Director Jared Cohen described trying to
explain the nature of the Internet to North Koreans during a visit to their country. They wrote: “We ended up trying to describe
the Internet to North Koreans we met in terms of its values: free expression, freedom of assembly, critical thinking, and meritoc-
racy.” These values are evident in the secure digital commons shared by the Intelligence Community but absent the blight that
anonymous negative actors bring to the World Wide Web.
22. Big Data: “Big data” is the term currently in common usage to refer to extremely large data sets that can be analyzed computa-
tionally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, often relating to human behavior and interactions. While “big data” specif-
ically refers to the data itself, the term is also used colloquially to allude to the many uses to which such data can be applied,
such as profiling, tracking, predicting, and identifying individuals, and trends or patterns in both individual and group behavior.

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 15

Why Spy Now?

For an accessible, balanced book-length view of the benefits, limits, and downsides to society and to corporations of computing
technology applied to data, see Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier, Big Data (First Mariner, 2014). For easy-to-
read skeptical views, see: Tim Harford, “Big Data: Are We Making a Big Mistake?” Financial Times, 28 March 2014 at: https://
www.ft.com/content/21a6e7d8-b479-11e3-a09a-00144feabdc0?mhq5j=e1 and “The Economist Explains: The Backlash Against
Big Data” in The Economist, 21 April 2014, at https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/04/economist-ex-
plains-10. At present, large-scale data analytics—their powers and capacities and their positive and negative effects on people
and culture—are still very much in flux and subject to widespread opinion and debate.
23. Psycholinguistics: Corporations use big data to engage in so-called “sentiment analysis” to evaluate, based on data available on
the Internet, the emotions around their brands. Sentiment analysis means computationally identifying and categorizing opinions
expressed in pieces of text, and also now in voice communications, in order to determine whether writers’ or speakers’ attitudes
toward a particular topic, product, or corporation (or brand) trend toward the positive, negative, or neutral. For a discussion of
psycholinguistics (or forensic linguistics), including the history of their development and use, validity, reliability, and the stakes
to individuals if computational tools applied to linguistics get it wrong in forensic contexts, see Jack Hitt, “Words on trial: Can
linguistics solve crimes that stump the police?” in The New Yorker, 23 July 2012.
24. Readings on Organizational Risks of Surveillance: See for example: Harvard Business Review Staff, “With Big Data Comes
Big Responsibility,” Harvard Business Review, November 2014; Neil M. Richards, “The Dangers of Surveillance,” Harvard
Business Review 126, 20 May 20 2013; Kirstie Ball, “Workplace Surveillance: An Overview,” Labor History 51, 1 April 2010;
Watson N. Nathan, “The Private Workplace and the Proposed ‘Notice of Electronic Monitoring Act’: Is ‘Notice’ Enough?”
Federal Communication Law Journal 54(1) (2001): 79–104, retrieved at http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.
cgi?article=1288&context=fclj; Graham Sewell and James R. Barker “Neither Good, Nor Bad, but Dangerous: Surveillance as
an Ethical Paradox,” Ethics and Information Technology 3 (3) (2001): 183–96.
25. Readings on Employee Attitudes Toward Surveillance: Those interested in individual differences in employee attitudes toward
and tolerance of workplace surveillance are directed to: G. Stoney Alder, Marshall Schminke, Terry W. Noel, and Maribeth
Kuenzi, “Employee Reactions to Internet Monitoring: The Moderating Role of Ethical Orientation,” Journal of Business Ethics
80 (2007): 481–98; the American Management Association/ePolicy Institute. Electronic Monitoring Surveillance Survey (2007);
Bernd Carsten Stahl, Mary Prior, Sara Wilford, Dervla Collins, “Electronic Monitoring in the Workplace: If People Don’t Care,
Then What is the Relevance?” in John Weckert (ed.), Electronic Monitoring in the Workplace: Controversies and Solutions (Idea
Group Publishing, 2005). This last reference explores not only how employees or other subjects react to being surveilled (they
do not necessarily see it as problematic, within certain limits) but also how custodians and policy-creators of the surveillance
methods react to their roles and the ethical dimensions of their functions. These researchers acknowledge real limitations to their
empirical methods (small sample sizes and lack of generalizability) but their findings are still thought-provoking, given that they
counter the general, decades-long consensus of scholars in multiple fields that people do not like being surveilled, even if they
are willing to tolerate it in some circumstances and contexts.
26. Readings on Risks to Individuals of Surveillance: For a good academic book-length treatment of the range of issues involved
in workplace surveillance, see John Weckert (ed.), Electronic Monitoring in the Workplace: Controversies and Solutions (Idea
Group Publishing, 2005) (one article in this book is cited immediately above). Core arguments for and against employee
monitoring are examined in Kirsten Martin and R. Edward Freeman, “Some Problems with Employee Monitoring,” Journal of
Business Ethics 43 (2003): 353–61. For an article-length contemporary and a book-length classic exploration of the negative
subjective experience of surveillance, see Michael P. Lynch, “Privacy and the Threat to the Self,” New York Times, 22 June 2013,
retrieved at https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/22/privacy-and-the-threat-to-the-self/; Sissela Bok, Secrets: On the
Ethics of Concealment and Revelation (Pantheon Books, 1983).
27. The importance of context to acceptance of electronic monitoring is explored in: Lamar Pierce, Daniel C. Snow, Andrew McA-
fee, “Cleaning House: The Impact of Information Technology Monitoring on Employee Theft and Productivity,” MIT Sloan
Research Paper No. 5029-13, October 2014, retrieved at: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51564.
28. Jessica Stern and Ronald Shouten, “Lessons from the anthrax letters” in Matthew Bunn and Scott D. Sagan (eds.), Insider
Threat (Cornell University Press, 2016), 93–94.
29. George Orwell, 1984 (Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1949).
30. Assessing the Mind of the Malicious Insider: Using a Behavioral Model and Data Analytics to Improve Continuous Evaluation
(http://www.insaonline.org/i/d/a/b/MindofInsider_wp.aspx. See also INSA, Leveraging Emerging Technologies in the Security
Clearance Process, March 2014

16 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy Now?

31. Richard A. Clarke, Michael J. Morell, Geoffrey R. Stone, Cass R. Sunstein, and Peter Swire, Liberty and Security in a Chang-
ing World: Report and Recommendations of the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies,”
December 12, 2013. Available at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/12/18/liberty-and-security-changing-world.
32. United Kingdom House of Lords, Select Committee on the Constitution, 2nd Report of Session 2008–09, Surveillance: Citizens
and the State, 27. Available at https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldselect/ldconst/18/18.pdf.
33. Emrys Westacott, “Does Surveillance Make Us Morally Better?” in Philosophy Now 79 (June/July, 2010). Available at https://
philosophynow.org/search?q=westacott+surveillance.

v v v

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 17

Why Spy?

The Psychology of Espionage

Dr. Ursula M. Wilder
They [the KGB] went around and they wrapped all the agents up. I was
amazed. I was anxious and amazed and shocked and scared. And in the
course of the following years, all of the agents I told them about were
recalled, transferred, arrested, whatnot, and then later on some of them
were shot. . . . The KGB later told me that they regretted acutely that they
had been forced to take those steps [thereby triggering a mole hunt at
“In the whole march of CIA]. Had I known they were going to do that, I either would not have
gone and sold them that information or I would have passed them out
history, a little espio- one by one.
nage doesn’t amount to — CIA mole Aldrich “Rick” Amesa
a hill of beans.” There was just one part of me, a small part of me, I guess, that wanted
— FBI spy Robert something that was a bit abandoned, a bit uncontrolled, almost suicidal,
Hanssen maybe.
— Former CIA watch officer William Kampiles

v v v

People who commit espionage sustain double lives. When a person passes
classified information to an enemy, he or she initiates a clandestine second
identity. From that time on, a separation must be maintained between the
person’s secret “spy” identity, with its clandestine activities, and the “non-spy”
public self. The covert activities inescapably exert a powerful influence on the
person’s overt life. They necessitate ongoing efforts at concealment, compart-
mentation, and deception of those not witting of the espionage, which includes
almost everyone in the spy’s life. For some people, sustaining such a double
identity is exciting and desirable; for others, it is draining and stressful. For a

a. “Why I Spied: Aldrich Ames,” New York Times interview with Tim Weiner, 31 July 1994.
A career CIA case officer, Ames was arrested in 1994 for spying over a nine-year period for
the KGB and its successor, the Ministry of Security for the Russian Federation. Ames made
a calculated decision to give the Russians the names of US penetrations in Russia who were
in position to alert their American handlers—and therefore the FBI—that there was a mole
in the CIA. All but one were executed. Weiner wrote, “He sold a Soviet Embassy official
the names of two KGB officers secretly working for the FBI in Washington. The price:
$50,000. The next month, he volunteered the names of every Soviet intelligence official
and military officer he knew was working in the United States, along with whatever else he
knew about CIA operations in Moscow . . . he received a wedding present from the KGB:
$2 million.” Ames is serving a life sentence without parole.
The views, opinions, and findings expressed in this article are those of the author
and should not be construed as asserting or implying US government endorsement
of its factual statements and interpretations or representing the official positions of
any component of the United States government.

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 19

Why Spy?

For some people, sustaining a double identity is exciting

and desirable; for others, it is draining and stressful. Third, ease of opportunity is
a prerequisite for espionage. The
few heroic people, spying is a moral First, any consideration of mo- potential spy must have access not
imperative that they would prefer to tivation in espionage must closely only to classified information but also
avoid but feel compelled to act on. examine personality pathology. Per- to an interested “customer.” The ma-
sonality is the mix of traits, attitudes, nipulations of such customers, who
This article focuses on spies and values that characterize a person. are often professionally trained to
whose espionage appears to be Spies frequently have pathological present themselves to potential spies
primarily self-interested, rather than personality features that pave the way as rewarding and safe patrons, can be
altruistic or self-sacrificing. Within to espionage, such as thrill seeking, a major determinant in motivating a
this criminal or treasonous type, a sense of entitlement, or a desire vulnerable person to take the step of
specific psychological factors com- for power and control. In addition, committing espionage.
monly occur, providing a guide to healthy countervailing traits—such as
understanding the motives, behavior, The elements of personality, crisis,
a calm temperament or strong sense
and experiences of this type of spy. and opportunity do not operate inde-
of responsibility—may be either
The risk of espionage can be reduced pendently. Vulnerabilities in one area
weak or entirely absent.
through understanding these psycho- generate vulnerabilities in the others.
logical patterns and tailoring counter- The second essential motivator A person with a problematic mix of
measures accordingly. is an experience of acute personal personality features will tend to have
crisis resulting in intense distress. more than the average number of life
Though the spy may have regrets crises, including job terminations,
Elements of Espionage in hindsight, at the time he or she
initiates the espionage, it appears a
Three essential elements set the ployees to establish a baseline of employee
logical decision to solve a problem or
conditions for a person’s entry into attitudes and opinions regarding counterin-
the only option available to escape a
espionage: telligence and security policies, procedures,
desperate or painful situation.b requirements, and training. The results
• dysfunctions in the personality attest to employee awareness of the links
between psychological factors and counter-
• a state of crisis Offenders,” Slammer Psychology Team intelligence risks. Those surveyed identified
Technical Report, May 1992; and “Manag- emotional instability related to ambition,
• ease of opportunity ing At Risk Employees,” Project Slammer anger leading to a need for revenge, feel-
The converse is true as well. Safe- Report, February 1993. Project Slammer is ings of being unrecognized and unreward-
guards or strengths in these areas an Intelligence Community research effort, ed, and loneliness as the top vulnerabilities
initiated in 1983, to understand espionage on the road to espionage. They ranked such
mitigate the risk of espionage.a through in-depth interviews and psycholog- problem behaviors as drug abuse and illicit
ical evaluations of incarcerated spies. More sex as second, and various mental crises or
a. “Why People Spy,” Project Slammer than 40 spies were interviewed. stresses brought on by debt, work issues,
Report, December 1992; “Personality b. In the wake of the Aldrich Ames case, the or psychological factors such as depression
Characteristics of Convicted Espionage CIA surveyed 1,790 randomly selected em- as third.

Scope Note
A classified version of this article was published in Studies in Intelligence in December 2003. The concepts discussed in the
2003 article are unchanged in this revision, but the case study information contained in textboxes in the original article have
been updated with unclassified or declassified material made available since 2003. This revision is intended to supplement
the author’s re-examination, 14 years later, of the psychological drivers of espionage and of intentional leaking of intelli-
gence data. The latter is an issue the original article and this, now unclassified, article do not address because such leaking
was not then the prominent problem it now is. The new article, “Why Spy? Why Leak?” begins on page 1.

Unless otherwise noted, quotations and information about the convicted spies used in this article are drawn from multiple
sources, including law enforcement investigative documents, counterintelligence reports, court documents, and publicly
available media accounts and books about US espionage and intelligence.

20 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy?

No typology can encompass the full complexity of the

relationship or family problems, and psyche of any individual spy.
financial troubles. Such personal
crises will, in turn, further stress this, everybody, but money I don’t believe that I was affect-
and magnify problematic traits and solves everything. And it did. ing the security of this country
behaviors just when the person needs And why did it all fall apart? [the United States] and the safe-
most to function with stability and You wanna know? I’ll tell you. ty of its people. . . . I didn’t give
maturity. Agents “spotting” a vulner- Because the Soviets cut off that stuff to the Soviets because
able person may insinuate themselves the money supply and the old I thought espionage is a dirty
into the situation and find ways to lady—I couldn’t pay her off game. I mean, that’s trivial.
exacerbate the personal crisis, “ripen- anymore—so she picked up the
ing” a targeted person’s vulnerability phone [tipping off the FBI]. —CIA mole Rick Amesc
to recruitment. Handlers will then Otherwise I would not be sitting
continue to manipulate a recruited Psychopaths are predators,
here. Money solves everything.a
asset’s vulnerabilities to maintain the approaching life with remorseless-
person’s long-term engagement in —Navy spy John Walker ness, manipulation, pursuit of risk
espionage. and excitement, and sharp, short-
If I really thought of the conse- term tactical abilities alongside poor
The descriptive categories that quences all the time, I cer- long-term and strategic planning.
follow are offered as a map of the tainly wouldn’t have been in They frequently leave people with a
psychological terrain of espionage. the business. I’m sure that the positive first impression. Over time
All maps oversimplify to a degree, people from Dow Chemicals in and with extended exposure, the ini-
and so does this one. No typology Delaware, I’m sure that they tial impression wears away as people
can encompass the full complexity didn’t think of the consequences become aware of, or are directly
of the psyche of any individual spy. of selling Napalm. If they did, victimized by, the psychopath. Before
Moreover, a proportion of people they wouldn’t be working at the they are unmasked, psychopaths can
caught in criminally oriented or factory. I doubt very much that cause severe damage to individuals
self-serving espionage will not fit the they felt any more responsible and institutions.
predicted patterns. Therefore, the ty- for the ultimate use than I did
pology must be applied with caution. for my equipment. Psychopaths cannot consistently
Trained professionals can apply these follow laws, rules, and customs and
concepts to mitigate risk in contexts —Former CIA Communications do not understand the social neces-
such as applicant screenings and Officer, illegal arms merchant, sity of doing so. They have limited
evaluations for clearances. Managers and access agent for the Cubans capacity to experience the feelings
and other members of the Intelli- Frank Terpilb of guilt, shame, and remorse that
gence Community may use this in- are the building blocks of mature
formation to sharpen their awareness a. See case study on page 24.
of potentially risky behavior patterns. b. Frank Terpil: Confessions of a Danger-
They should bear in mind, however, ous Man, documentary directed by Anthony intelligence as an access agent, targeting
that these psychological patterns do Thomas, 1981, WGBH (Boston). Terpil’s former CIA colleagues. He died in Havana
comment related to his selling weapons, in March 2016.
not always lead to trouble—and that
many troubled people do not exhibit explosives, torture instruments, poisons, c. In the 1994 New York Times interview
and classified information to such custom- from which this quote is drawn, reporter
these patterns.
ers as African dictator Idi Amin, Libya, Weiner described Ames as follows: “Since
and assorted terrorists. Terpil was a CIA the 53-year-old Ames was arrested, his hair
communications officer who resigned under and skin have grayed perceptibly. On the
Psychopathy duress in 1972. Arrested in New York in surface, he is smooth, beguiling, sometimes
1979 for illegal arms dealing, he fled the charming. He fumbles for words only when
Money was a solution. Sorry United States while free on bail. He was he considers the nature of his treason and
about this, Hollywood. Sorry tried in absentia and sentenced to over 60 then that calm exterior cracks. His interior?
about this, Church. Sorry about years in prison for illegal arms dealing. As There is an emptiness where pain or rage or
a fugitive, he began working with Cuban shame should be.”

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 21

Why Spy?

Case Studies in Investigating Espionage: Use and Limitations

Experts in the Intelligence Community and outside scholars rely on case studies for insights into the motives and behavior
of those who spy. Case studies look backward and highlight warning signs that in hindsight become obvious. Because it
can be easy to discount the factors that obscured such signs, case study methods run the risk of hindsight and confirmation
bias, focusing solely on the spy and insufficiently on the context. Often spies go undetected by exploiting or manipulating
routine organizational processes and accepted customs or practices, first to “survive” in the system despite problems in
personality and job performance, and later to cover their espionage. Sometimes larger organizational variables erode or
undermine counterintelligence and security practices to such a degree that these variables are arguably equally instrumen-
tal in espionage. The term “systemic failure” is often used in official reports after major catastrophes to account for such
variables. It is important, therefore, not to assume that the problem of espionage resides solely in the nature of the individu-
al spy; problems in the context within which the spy operates can be equally serious.a

Alert readers will point out that experts in espionage only have arrested spies to study and that there may be some who
have “gotten away with it.” These spies would by definition not be included in our study sample, and therefore our model
only describes those who get caught. Ironically, many caught spies eventually tell investigators they were certain they had
the skills to avoid capture, unlike their less skilled counterparts. Nicholson, for example, said this about his fellow case
officer Ames, whose arrest prompted Nicholson to start his own espionage and “do better” at not getting caught. FBI special
agent Hanseen served in counterintelligence and was convinced he could outperform the spies he was tasked to study and
catch.

It is extremely difficult to predict complex, relatively rare human behavior such as espionage because of the problem of
false positives: many people demonstrate the common warning signs that can lead to the the decision to spy but most
will never engage in espionage. It is equally difficult for an organization to detect, measure, and therefore account for the
reasons behind good-news “success” stories, for example, when a budding insider threat is recognized early and effectively
addressed before causing great harm.

The small number of arrested spies means there is insufficient statistical power to conduct meaningful empirical analyses to
predict who in an organization will become a spy. For example, the press dubbed 1985 the “Year of the Spy” because of a
string of high-profile cases: eight Intelligence Community insiders were arrested that year on charges of espionage. In fact,
the previous year the FBI had apprehended a much larger number: 12.b Even in these two consecutive “banner years” for
espionage arrests, the total number of spies (20 individuals) was vanishingly small compared to the millions in the US gov-
ernment with top secret accesses who did not commit espionage. The low base rate for espionage cases has not changed
since the mid-80s. The 2015 Annual Report of Security Clearances Determinations by the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence reports that 1,220,678 top secret security clearances were active in 2015, and arrests for espionage in 2015
were in no way comparable to the “high” of 20 cases in 1984 and 1985.

In sum, as a result of these limitations, the Intelligence Community turns to in-depth psychological assessments to better
understand the psychology of espionage.c The long-term consensus among Community counterintelligence professionals
(psychologists, law enforcement and investigative professionals, and analysts) is that the key individual variables motivating
espionage described in this article—personality, crisis, and opportunity—are supported through the accumulation of case
studies of arrested spies since formal psychological and investigative studies began during and after WWII.

a. A good example of a study that addresses the relationship of organizational processes to an insider crime is Amy B. Zegart’s case
study of the Army psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 14 soldiers and wounded 43 in a military deployment center at Ft.
Hood, TX. See “The Fort Hood Terrorist Attack: An Organizational Postmortem of Army and FBI Deficiencies” in Matthew Bunn and
Scott D. Sagan (eds.), Insider Threats (Cornell University Press, 2017), 42–74. The book contains numerous other useful case studies.
b. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/year-of-the-spy-1985.
c. Alexander L. George and Andrew Bennet, Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences, 4th ed. (MIT Press, 2005).

22 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy?

In the workplace, psychopaths are noteworthy for their

conscience and moral functioning. central roles in frequent, enduring, and bitter conflicts.
They are facile liars. In fact, many
psychopaths take inordinate plea-
his access to classified materials. resolve and courage are required to
sure in lying because perpetrating an
Walker also exhibited a psychopath’s publicly take on psychopaths because
effective “con” gives them a sense
excessive need for excitement and of their ruthlessness, manipulative
of power and control over the person
characteristic pursuit of thrills and acumen, and the thrill and excitement
lied to, an emotional charge some-
adventure. This need for stimulation they experience from generating
times termed “duping delight.”a Their
can express itself in multiple ways stress and conflict.
glee in manipulating others may be
and in many contexts, such as in
so acute that it overrides judgment Those in the bureaucracy respon-
gleefully breaking rules and disre-
and good sense, causing them to take sible for oversight or disciplinary
garding social conventions, deliber-
foolish risks simply for the pleasure functions—such as security or
ately provoking authority, harming
of temporarily conning others. finance officers—will frequently
others or their property, using drugs
illegally, and engaging in hazardous be the first targets of psychopathic
Psychopaths are interpersonally
physical activities such as excessive manipulations. These institutional
exploitative. The condition is not
speeding or extremely dangerous watchdogs or disciplinarians are
infrequently associated with acute
sports. often in positions to collect hard
cruelty and the enjoyment of in-
data against the psychopath, such as
flicting pain on others. Harming or
Finally, psychopaths rarely learn fraudulent accountings or inaccurate
alarming others is, to psychopaths, its
from mistakes and have difficulty time-and-attendance records. There-
own reward. They pursue these plea-
seeing beyond the present. Conse- fore, they present an especially acute
sures with relish irrespective of the
quently, they have deficient long- threat to a psychopath’s freedom to
risks involved or the limited potential
term planning, and their judgment is maneuver undetected within a bu-
for gain.
weak. In contrast to their problems reaucracy. They often are subjected
Navy spy John Walker illustrates in strategic planning, psychopaths to vicious attacks instigated by the
the manipulative, exploitative, pred- can be supremely skilled tacticians psychopath, which may take personal
atory characteristics of psychopaths. and exceptionally quick on their feet. rather than professional form. These
(See case study on next page.) Faced Absent the usual prohibition against preemptive strikes serve to obstruct
with retirement, he aggressively violating rules or social customs, or obscure legitimate efforts to bring
recruited family members to preserve psychopaths are tactically unbound to light concerns about the psycho-
and remarkably uninhibited. path’s integrity and behavior. In
addition, if a psychopath’s immediate
Snakes in Suits supervisor, peers, or subordinates
a. The psychological literature on psychop-
athy and its cousin, antisocial personality,
In the workplace, psychopaths are try to feed their concerns upward to
is voluminous. Classics include: Hervey noteworthy for their central roles in management, they often find that the
Cleckley, Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to frequent, enduring, and bitter con- psychopath has been there before
Reinterpret the So-Called Psychopathic flicts. Psychopaths exert themselves them and had prepared key managers
Personality (Originally published in 1941, to charm select superiors, whereas to expect such criticism. The warn-
it is now in a fifth edition with a slightly their immediate peers experience
different subtitle, “An Attempt to Clarify ings, therefore, fall on deaf ears or
Some Issues . . .”.); Robert Hare, Without
their abuse and quickly come to view result in blowback to the messengers.
Conscience: The Disturbing World of the them with mistrust. Peers see them
Psychopaths Among Us (Guilford Press, as possessors of a guilt-free lack of Because psychopaths thrive in
1993); Paul Babiak and Robert Hare, integrity, as remorseless pursuers of an atmosphere of turbulence and
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to their own agendas, and as ruthless instability, corporate cultures that tol-
Work (HarperBusiness, 2007); M.J. Vitacco, eliminators of threatening critics or erate risk taking and controversial or
“Psychopathy,” The British Journal of Psy-
obstacles—even legitimate compet- even abusive behaviors will provide
chiatry 191 (2007): 357; R. Hare and C.
S. Neumann, “Psychopathy as a Clinical itors. Subordinates of psychopaths congenial ground for them. Organiza-
and Empirical Construct,” Annual Review most often fear them. A great deal of tions in which the usual institutional
of Clinical Psychology 4 (2008): 217–46. systems of control or supervision are

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 23

Why Spy?

The John Walker Spy Ring: Keeping it in the Family

John A. Walker joined the Navy in 1955. He developed into an experienced and competent communications specialist,
received numerous awards and promotions, and retired as a chief warrant officer after 20 years in the service. At the time of
his retirement, he had been spying for the Soviet Union for a decade. Before leaving the Navy, Walker recruited three sub-
agents with active clearances to ensure that his espionage could continue and that he would retain personal control over
the feed mechanisms to his handlers.

Walker recruited his friend Jerry Whitworth, a Naval communications specialist who, like Walker, had a “top secret crypto”
clearance. Walker and Whitworth agreed to a “50/50 split” of the proceeds, with Walker functioning as the middleman. After
retirement. Walker also recruited his brother, Arthur, a retired Navy lieutenant commander, who was working for a defense
contractor. He also signed up his 20-year-old son, Michael, who had enlisted in the Navy. Walker used greed to induce his
brother and son to spy, though during post-arrest debriefings Michael said his primary motive had been a desire to be like
his father.

Walker’s daughter enlisted in the Army in 1978. He offered her “a great deal of money” if she would seek a position in Army
communications, giving her $100 and promising that this was only the beginning should she cooperate. She steadfastly re-
fused, but he continued to contact her periodically to ask if she had given it further thought. After his daughter left the Army,
Walker appeared at her residence accompanied by Whitworth and Whitworth’s wife and again tried to recruit her, telling her
that his “man in Europe” was willing to provide her with special equipment to spy but was worried that she was getting “too
old” to reenlist. She rebuffed him again, but Walker later sent her $500, characterizing the money as an advance from his
“man in Europe.”

Walker and his subagents were arrested in 1985 after his ex-wife called the FBI after he had stopped support payments to
her. She was stunned when her tip-off also resulted in the arrest of her son and said afterward that she would never have
called the FBI had she known that Walker had recruited their son. Walker’s daughter called the FBI separately in an attempt
to regain custody of her only child, which she had surrendered during divorce proceedings from her husband, who had
threatened to reveal her father’s espionage to the FBI if she fought for custody.

During the debriefings after his arrest, Walker characterized his spying as an exciting game and adventure that was also
“quite profitable.” Asked if, in hindsight, he would have done things differently, he joked that he should have killed his
alcoholic ex-wife, and he maintained that he was caught only because he lost his capacity to pay for “the drunk’s” silence.
Walker’s exploitative and callous attitude and inability to appreciate his role in damaging the lives of others are characteris-
tic of psychopaths.

Walker died in prison in August 2014. His son was paroled in 2000 after serving 15 years of a 25 year sentence.

weak—such as those with inadequate and lifestyle support for troubled Narcissism
personnel measurement and tracking employees. These unique institution- I have had much opportunity
systems or with vulnerable informa- al controls are essential because the to reflect on what happened .
tion systems— will be particularly Intelligence Community’s compart- . . Greed did not motivate me.
unprotected against psychopathic mentation of information, secrecy It never did. If it had, I would
manipulations. regarding programs and activities, have taken the actions I did far
and constant mobility of personnel sooner. There were many chanc-
The Intelligence Community has make it relatively easy for unscrupu- es to pursue greed through sus-
both more protection from and more lous employees to maneuver unde- tained contacts with Russians
vulnerability to deliberate manipu- tected and to manipulate the system. and others in [various locations]
lation by insiders. The institutional In the national security environment, . . . but I didn’t. This is not
safeguards are greater than in most such behaviors have the potential to meant to be an excuse, just a
workplaces because of rigorous med- do especially grave harm. reflection. Patriotism, Loyalty,
ical and security screenings of appli- Honor—all these had once been
cants, regular security reviews of the of paramount importance to me.
workforce, and programs for medical They all took a back seat when

24 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy?

Convinced of their own inherent superiority, narcissists

my true loves were threat- blame others for their problems or for negative things
ened— my children and my that happen to them.
future.

—CIA spy Jim Nicholsona Narcissistic personalities are char- control. Convinced of their own in-
acterized by exaggerated self-love herent superiority, they blame others
Yes, and there were Kapos, too, and self-centeredness. Alongside an for their problems or for negative
during the concentration camps. all-encompassing grandiosity runs a things that happen to them, including
subtle but equally pervasive insecuri- social rejection. Because they do not
—Navy civilian analyst Jay
ty, into which narcissists have limited consider themselves at fault for any
Pollardb
insight. Their internal world typically troubles or setbacks, narcissists feel
is built around fantasies about their at liberty to take whatever steps they
remarkable personal abilities, charis- deem necessary to redress wrongs
a. Harold James Nicholson, in a letter ma, beauty, and prospects. They are or regain a sense of mastery and
written from prison addressed to a senior compelled to exhibit their presumed superiority.
Intelligence Community official. A career
CIA case officer, Nicholson was arrested
stellar attributes and constantly seek
affirmation from others. Though their Narcissistic self-absorption should
in 1996 for spying for the Russians, to
whom he had volunteered in 1994 when imaginings distort common sense or not be confused with an inability to
he was completing a tour of duty as the everyday reality, narcissists never- grasp the perspective of others. Their
second-in-command of a post in Asia. In theless believe in the accuracy of hunger for affirmation produces acute
addition to passing a wide range of intelli- their daydreams and act accordingly. awareness of the reactions they are
gence documents, Nicholson compromised provoking from the people around
the identities of numerous CIA colleagues
Others, therefore, often experience
them as lacking common sense and them. This deep hunger for affirma-
working under cover, including the identi-
ties of many newly hired students destined twisting reality. When facts or other tion also makes them vulnerable to
for their first posts. (He had been one of people contradict or interfere with manipulation, particularly by people
their trainers as a senior faculty member their fantasies, narcissists become whose admiration or approval they
at a CIA training center.) He pleaded combative and vengeful. Their de- desire. Narcissists are particularly
guilty and was sentenced to 23 years and sensitive to authorities or to other-
7 months imprisonment. While serving
fensive hostility to criticism— even
mild feedback—is often well out of wise socially prominent or powerful
his sentence, he induced his youngest son,
Nathan, then 22, to contact and collect over proportion to whatever provocation people. Conversely, they can be inor-
$47,000 from Russian officials, which the sparked it. dinately indifferent to or contemptu-
elder Nicholson called a “pension.” FBI ous of the feelings or needs of people
agents were tracking Nathan and arrested Narcissists possess a careless dis- whom they believe to be insignificant
him in 2008; his father then pleaded guilty regard for personal integrity and can or social inferiors.
to charges of conspiracy to act as an agent be very unscrupulous and manipula-
of a foreign government and conspiracy Narcissists in the Workplace
to commit money laundering. Eight years
tive in pursuing their own ends. They
are, on the whole, indifferent to the Narcissists are often magnetic
were added to his sentence, which he
is now serving in a federal “supermax” needs of others, who in turn see them because their supreme self-confi-
penitentiary. His son cooperated with the as having flawed social consciences. dence wedded to their urgent drive
investigation and was sentenced to five Narcissists feel entitled to special— to impress enables them to project
years probation (see “Twice Convicted even extraordinary— favors and the appearance of talent and charm
ex-CIA spy gets 8 more years,” USA Today, effectively. Over time, the charisma
18 January 2011).
status that they do not believe they
have to reciprocate. They heedlessly wears thin as it becomes evident
b. This comment reflects Pollard’s in- that this appearance is not built on
exploit others emotionally and finan-
dictment of Jewish-American officials,
cially, or in other ways that suit their substance, but rather on fantasies and
including a federal judge, involved in his
prosecution, trial, and life sentence for ends. They are deeply antagonistic to fabrications. Furthermore, narcissists’
spying for Israel. In “60 Minutes: The sharing decisionmaking with others, pervasive tendency to see others as
Pollards,” an interview with Mike Wallace, irrespective of the legitimacy of the inferior causes them to be needlessly
CBS, 20 November 1988. (See case study claims of others for some degree of sarcastic, belittling, or supercilious.
on page 26.)

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 25

Why Spy?

Jonathan Jay Pollard: Self-Appointed Hero

Jonathan Pollard, a civilian analyst with the Navy, spied for Israel from June 1984 until his arrest on 21 November 1985.
Pollard was highly responsive to Israeli tasking and compromised numerous intelligence documents from CIA, NSA, DIA, and
the US military. He has consistently characterized his espionage as the duty of a loyal Israeli soldier and claimed he was a
martyr, comparing his life of incarceration to that of an Israeli pilot abandoned after being shot down in enemy territory.

Pollard’s pre-espionage history showed a pattern of self-aggrandizement and lapses in judgment. As an undergraduate at
Stanford University, he bragged to fellow students that he was a Mossad agent, claiming that Israel was paying his tuition
and that he had fought and been wounded in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In one memorable episode, he brandished a pistol
in front of startled fellow students, loudly proclaiming that he needed to carry it for protection because of his intelligence
activities. A former college roommate described Pollard as having a penchant for “dirty jokes” and being so immersed in
fantasy war games on campus that he was nicknamed “Colonel” (of the Mossad).a

Pollard’s conduct and attitude problems continued after he secured an analytic job with the Navy. One Monday, he arrived
disheveled and unshaven for an interview for a new position, claiming that the Irish Republican Army had kidnapped his
then-fiancée and he had spent the weekend securing her release. This incident went unreported, although he did not get
the job.b In a 1980 effort to join the Navy’s HUMINT intelligence element, Pollard made fictitious claims to have completed
an M.A., to be proficient in Afrikaans, and to have applied for a commission in the naval reserve. Even more far-fetched, he
told his immediate supervisor that he had valuable South African contacts because his father had been a CIA chief of station
in South Africa. (Pollard’s father was a microbiologist on the faculty of Notre Dame University.) Based on these fabrications.
Pollard secured the assignment. Once on the job, his falsehoods became apparent and his erratic behavior raised further
alarms. He showed up at meetings against orders, claiming he was entitled to attend, and he disclosed classified informa-
tion without authorization to a South African defense attaché, perhaps in an attempt to sustain his lies about his valuable
liaison contacts.

In a letter from jail in 1989 designed to raise political support for an Israeli-fostered campaign to gain his release from his
life sentence, Pollard wrote, “I do not believe that the Draconian sentence meted out to me was in any way commensurate
with the crime I committed. As I have tried to point out on innumerable occasions, I was neither accused of nor charged with
having intended to harm this country, as I could have been under the provisions of the espionage statute. In other words,
I did not spy ‘against’ the United States. Nowhere in my indictment . . . was I ever described as a ‘traitor,’ which is hardly
a surprise given the fact that the operation with which I was associated actually served to strengthen America’s long-term
security interests in the Middle East.” Pollard’s lack of insight into his failures in judgment and ethics and his recasting of
events to conform to his grandiose fantasies and self-image are consistent with narcissistic personalities.c

a. Wolf Blitzer, Territory of Lies: The Rise, Fall and Betrayal of Jonathan Jay Pollard (Harper Paperbacks, 1990), 36.
b. Seymour M. Hersh, “The Traitor,” New Yorker, 18 January 1999: 27.
c. In a 15 May 1998 interview with the Associated Press, Pollard expressed regret. “There is nothing good that came as a result of
my actions,” he conceded “I tried to serve two countries at the same time. . . . That does not work. . . . People could identify with my
predicament . . . because they knew they could be in my place through love of state. . . . There can be no justification for violating the
trust given an intelligence officer. I made a mistake.” In November 2015 Pollard was released on parole after serving 30 years of his life
sentence.

People around narcissists may the recipients of antagonistic feelings the interpersonal conflicts they habit-
note stark contrasts in their conduct at distinct odds with their view of ually generate.
toward different classes of people, themselves as infinitely superior and
depending on their social rank and admirable. They have limited insight In addition, narcissists often show
usefulness. Furthermore, the hostile into their role in these dynamics and a pattern of violating organizational
and vindictive attacks narcissists tend to blame others for their own rules and disregarding institutional or
mete out when others challenge their lack of social success, in the work- managerial authority. They trivialize
grandiosity tend to provoke angry place as elsewhere. Their managers inconvenient regulations or hold
responses in return. The result is that will frequently have to intervene in themselves superior and exempt from
narcissists frequently find themselves policies, directives, and laws. They

26 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy?

It can be very difficult for managers to know where to

feel entitled to favorable workplace draw the line between a tolerable or useful level of nar-
treatment— whether this comes in cissism and more dangerous self-absorption and self-ag-
the form of forgiveness for trans- grandizement.
gressions, early or frequent promo-
tions, attractive work assignments,
this was a—a real damaging Observers frequently compare
or other advantages such as having
thing that I had done. I thought immature adults to adolescents.
their requests expedited by support
that more good really could Attitudes and behaviors that are ex-
staff. They are acutely sensitive
come out of it. That’s the reason pected and even endearing in normal
to the advancement of others and
that I returned to the CIA, adolescents or children, however, are
become suspicious and angry if they
contacting them and obviously, unsettling, disruptive, and potentially
find themselves being left behind.
you know, the whole thing was hazardous in adults.
They perceive workplace competitors
backwards and I’m not sure if—
who get ahead of them as “steal- The most salient characteristic
even if—I’ll ever really know
ing” advantages or rewards that are of immaturity is the ascendancy of
how it happened. It’s—when
rightfully their own. Finally, narcis- fantasy over reality. Immature adults
I think back about it—it—it
sists will lie, fabricate information or spend an inordinate amount of time
almost seems impossible that it
events, willfully exaggerate accom- daydreaming, deliberately calling to
could have happened but it did
plishments, and often believe their mind ideas that stimulate pleasant or
and I hope maybe it, you know,
own fabrications, all in the interest of exciting emotions. In contrast to ma-
clears up.
appearing successful or important. ture adults, immature adults do not
—Former CIA watch officer readily distinguish their private world
Many of these characteristics,
William Kampilesa from objective external reality and,
properly contained, can be very use-
in fact, may expect reality to conform
ful in certain types of work requiring No one is born a spy. Spies are to their self-serving and stimulating
flexibility, charisma, and persua- made. Some are volunteers, fantasies. Their fantasies about their
sion—for example, in sales, politics, many are coerced, but all begin special powers, talents, status, pros-
and case officer work. It can be very somewhere on the other side pects, and future actions can be so
difficult for managers to know where from where they inevitably end seductive that they become resentful
to draw the line between a tolerable up. . . . My age at the time of of conflicting real-world truth.
or useful level of narcissism—what entry into the world of espio-
psychologists call healthy narcis- nage was nineteen. I was one of All three types of personalities
sism—and more dangerous self-ab- the youngest spies ever in the described in this article are distin-
sorption and self-aggrandizement. history of the United States. . guished by active fantasy lives, but
One way to make this determination . . This story is not only one of the fantasies tend to differ in both
is to look for positive, counterbalanc- manipulation. Like all spy sto-
ing features in the personality—such ries, it is also one of betrayal. .
as tolerance of competition and a . . I betrayed and was betrayed. An American’s Cold War Journey [Cre-
realistic self-perception—that control Today, years after my release, ateSpace, 2013], 11–12). Carney was a
and channel the narcissism into pro- years after my kidnapping and mole for the East Germans while he was
ductive pursuits. a US Air Force linguist. After he was
trial, I am confronted by this
exfiltrated to East Germany, he developed
reality on a near daily basis. detailed targeting files on Americans for
Immaturity
My thinking before I joined the them. (See case study on page 32.) The
—Enlisted Air Force linguist kidnapping Carney refers to in this quote
CIA was, I think, noble and Jeffrey Carneyb is his arrest after German reunification
patriotic and all this, help the in 1990, when a tip from his former East
United States or whatever. And German handler led officers from the US
a. See case study on page 28.
even when this happened, I Air Force Office of Special Investigations
didn’t feel anti-American or an- b. These quotations are from the opening to seize him in Germany and return him to
ti-CIA. It never came to me that chapter of Jeffery M. Carney’s self-pub- the United States for trial. (See case study
lished memoir (Against All Enemies: on page 32.)

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 27

Why Spy?

William Kampiles: Self-Styled Special Agent

In March 1978, after resigning under duress from his position as a watch officer in the CIA Operations Center, William
Kampiles passed to the Soviet Union a top secret KH-11 satellite technical manual. He received $3,000 for this document
that contained detailed information on a major US intelligence collection system.

Kampiles had joined the CIA in 1977 at age 22. He was offered a watch officer position when his application for Directorate
of Operations (DO) case officer training was rejected. He arrived at work with distorted notions of his abilities and prospects
and quickly became disgruntled. Uninterested and contemptuous of his assigned duties, he clashed with his supervisor, and
his persistent efforts to transfer to the DO led to a formal notice that he was required to serve in his present position for two
years, which only deepened his disgruntlement.

Through personal contacts, Kampiles managed to secure an interview with the DO Career Training Staff. His interviewer de-
scribed him as immature and lacking self-discipline and judgment. Highlights of their discussion include Kampiles revealing
that he had only accepted the watch officer position as a way to secure entry into the DO and that he would resign from the
CIA if he were not accepted. He attributed his difficulties in the Operations Center to his reputation as a playboy, and when
his interviewer asked if this reputation was deserved, he boasted of his successes with women. Questioned about what he
had liked best about a past menial job, he quipped that it was the expense account.

Kampiles smuggled a KH-11 manual out of the Operations Center to try to get his CIA supervisor in trouble when it was
found to be missing. He also vaguely envisaged that he could turn around his upcoming termination by using the document
to initiate a free-lance, James Bond-style operation, thus persuading the CIA that he was indeed case officer material and
could be deployed as a double agent against Moscow. Four months after his resignation, he volunteered the document to
the Soviets in Athens, Greece, where he was visiting relatives. Upon his return to the United States, he got in touch with
a former CIA colleague and revealed his contact with the Soviets. The colleague asked him to describe his activities in a
letter. Kampiles wrote about his “accidental” meeting with a Soviet in Athens and noted that other meetings followed, but
he did not directly admit to passing documents. “What I have talked about thus far has been generalized,” he explained. “I
did this because to be entirely specific it would take the length of a short book to narrate this entire story. If you think there
might be agency [i.e., CIA] interest, I might be willing to discuss this experience in full detail.”

The letter led to an FBI investigation and Kampiles’s arrest for espionage, for which he was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Reflecting on his motives and state of mind at the time that he took the KH-11 manual and later when he passed it to the
Soviets, Kampiles told his FBI interrogators, “I think you know, boiling it down, I think it was monetary and the glamour and
the excitement, that this sort of thing might bring on . . . the danger . . . the intrigue, all that together.” Kampiles’s immersion
in a fantasy world, his belief that both reality and other people would play along, the profound failures in perception and
judgment caused by his fantasies, and his initial shock upon his arrest and eventual remorse at the harm he caused are all
consistent with immaturity.

content and degree. Psychopaths oped, such individuals are less tied anticipation of consequences that to
tend to fantasize mostly about power, to factual reality than their mature most people would be completely
pain, and control, while narcissists peers and more dependent on fantasy predictable. They are often genuinely
focus on their personal superiority to cope with events and to maintain shocked when reality intrudes on
and the hostility provoked by those stability. their plans and interferes with antici-
who do not notice it and their plans pated outcomes.
to get revenge for perceived slights Consequently, immature adults
and insults. The fantasy lives of generally expect others to embrace Furthermore, immature people
immature persons are frequently what to them is the self-evident are persistently egocentric, they see
much less well defined; they can be legitimacy of their personal ideas and themselves as the epicenter of any
likened to the dreamlike blend of longings. They often cannot under- crowd or event. They believe others
perceptions, thoughts, imagination, stand why others do not share their are paying close attention to them
and facts characteristic of psycholog- perspective and fail to see that reality personally in most contexts, and as
ically healthy children. Because the itself works against the validity of a result they are acutely self-aware.
reasoning, judgment, and self-control their fantasies. They frequently will When it becomes clear that they are
of immature adults are underdevel- act on their fantasies with little not the center of attention and that

28 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy?

Like psychopaths and narcissists, immature persons

others might, in fact, be indifferent have defective consciences, but they are capable of feel-
to them, they often react negatively ing real guilt and often have well-developed moral codes.
and take steps to bring attention to
themselves. ly to control their behavior is com- imaginations can cause problems
Immature people have difficulty promised. with decisionmaking and judgment.
moderating their feelings. Rather If stress is not reduced, immature
An occasional feature of imma- workers rapidly lose their ability to
than appropriately disciplining and turity is dependency, which is highly
channeling feelings, they are subject cope and can become inordinately
relevant to espionage because depen- needy and demanding. Coworkers
to them. As a result, they are given to dency makes a person particularly
dramatic displays of emotion when who discern these patterns become
susceptible to manipulation and con- alarmed, and immature people are
stressed or excited, and while these trol. (See Sharon Scranage case study
displays may be congruent to what- often considered by others to be
on page 34.) Dependent people somewhat unbalanced and a risk for
ever stimulated the feelings—for ex- experience relationships to be so cru-
ample, they will become very angry hazardous behavior and bad judg-
cial to their well-being that they will ment.
at perceived injustices or delight in do almost anything to sustain them.
successes—observers will sense that Dependent people may function quite In general, immature persons are
the emotions lack proper proportion adequately and seem well adjusted naive about normal expectations
and moderation. as long as they are not required to regarding adult workplace attitudes
A significant consequence of be on their own and are able to rely and conduct. They are too susceptible
poor emotional control is impulsiv- on a relationship as a psychological to environmental distractions and
ity. Immature people have difficulty crutch. If the relationship is threat- internal pressures to be consistent
restraining their immediate wishes ened, or there is even the possibility performers. They do not readily
in the interest of anticipating long- of separation, they become anxious distinguish between personal and
term consequences. When prompted and less able to cope. Their hunger to professional spheres. They are easily
by sudden feelings or urgent desires, both please and cling to the person or bored with routine and heedlessly
they take precipitous action. They people on whom they are dependent seek stimulation from people and
tend to have limited attention spans necessarily affects their judgment, things around them. They can be
and need to be emotionally engaged and they will willingly compromise either too dependent on, or reactive
with a task or a person to retain their own and others’ well-being— against, control mechanisms. They
focus. They can be quite fickle and including their personal ethics— to tend to be very demanding of posi-
easily distracted. sustain the relationship on which they tive attention from authorities, while
depend. at the same time overly hostile or
Finally, like psychopaths and sensitive to negative feedback. Their
narcissists, immature adults have Children at Play seeking after attention or stimulation
defective consciences, but they are In the workplace, immature often becomes a drain on supervisors,
capable of feeling real guilt and often people are often spontaneous and who must engage in constant over-
have well-developed moral codes. imaginative and can be quite appeal- sight, and can deplete peers, who get
Their egocentricism and impulsivity ing. In optimal conditions, they can pressed into fixing problems caused
limit their capacity for foresight, but be productive and inventive people by their immature colleague’s inat-
in hindsight they often deeply regret who are eager to form attachments tention and poor judgment.
their impetuous actions. Though with others and to please and impress
they may want to behave ethically them.
and feel guilt and shame when they When such employees are
behave badly or hurt other people, stressed, however, these characteris-
their capacity to apply their moral tics can take distinctly negative turns.
understanding and desires consistent- Spontaneity can translate into erratic
and impulsive behavior, and active

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 29

Why Spy?

Robert Hanssen: Self-Designated Cold Warrior

Former FBI Special Agent Robert Hanssen spied for the Russians for a total of nine years over a 21-year period, beginning
in 1979 and ending with his arrest in 2001. Because of his position in the FBI Foreign Counterintelligence Unit and his use
of computer technologies, Hanssen was able to pass extensive and highly damaging information.

After his arrest, Hanssen reported that as a junior special agent working in the FBI’s New York office, he was inspired to
commit espionage by reading operational files of past and then current Russian agents. While fascinated by the clandes-
tine and secret world described in the files, he was also struck by what he estimated to be amateurish tradecraft and was
curious to see if he could do better. He initiated his espionage by leaving a letter signed with a code name for a Russian
case officer whose tradecraft he admired. In this, as in all communications with his handlers, Hanssen insisted on remaining
unidentified.

His anonymous letters to his handlers provide a window into his psyche. The tone varies from arrogant lecturing to pleading
for understanding and communication. He often addressed his handlers with a mixture of superciliousness and admonition,
as in the following excerpt from an 8 June 2000 letter in which he describes how they should view the United States: “The
US can be errantly [sic] likened to a powerfully built but retarded child, potentially dangerous, but young, immature, and
easily manipulated. But don’t be fooled by that appearance. It is also one which can turn ingenius [sic] quickly, like an idiot
savant, once convinced of a goal.”

Hanssen was motivated to spy by a mixture of greed, need for excitement, desire to test himself, and craving to feel like
a “hero” by becoming involved in something significant. To external appearances, there were many signs of stability in his
lifestyle. The Hanssen family was religiously devout with extensive ties in their faith community. Hanssen appeared to be a
responsible primary breadwinner. He was a moderately successful FBI special agent who, while not necessarily fitting the
typical mold, had secured a niche job that suited his talents. Despite these external signs of stability, however, Hanssen
possessed salient secret vulnerabilities. His desire to serve as a hero led him to initiate a mentoring relationship with a pros-
titute he imagined he could rescue from her lifestyle by showing her a better way to live. He abruptly cut off this relationship
when she proved unable to live up to his expectations. He installed a live-feed camera in his bedroom and surreptitiously
captured his sexual activity with his wife for a male friend, even discussing with this friend ahead of time what he would like
to watch. He also passed to him nude pictures of his wife and posted pornographic stories on the web featuring him and his
wife, all without her knowledge.

At work, Hanssen was considered odd and carried several pejorative nicknames. He was disciplined for angrily grabbing a
female colleague. He exploited a breach in the computer firewall to break into his supervisor’s computer, claiming he did it
to show FBI security the vulnerability of sensitive computer systems. When he was reprimanded as a young special agent
for throwing classified information in the trash rather than shredding it, he responded that he knew what was really classified
and what was not. The failures in empathy and in respect for others, the self-absorption, and the poor judgment evident in
these behaviors suggest a mixed personality disorder.

Mixed Personality Disorder What may be most notable in such ality contains a mix of psychopathic,
I feel I had a small role in cases is a lack of positive personality narcissistic, and dependent features.
bringing down the USSR. . . . I features to counterbalance negative
wanted to be able to contribute ones. In addition, some spies show a
in some way to that. . . . So I mix of characteristics from all three Healthy Personalities
launched my own war. dominant types. Some may also show
In healthy personalities, positive
other psychopathologies such as
—FBI mole Robert Hanssen characteristics counterbalance neg-
paranoid or compulsive symptoms.
ative ones. Positive features might
A case in point is former FBI Special
While the traits and behaviors include the ability to accept criticism;
Agent Robert Hanssen, who spied
of many spies match the features to feel remorse and make reparations
for the Russians over the course of
specific to psychopathy, narcissism, for mistakes; to show genuine empa-
21 years. A psychological evaluation
or immaturity and dependency, in thy for at least some people. Healthy
conducted as part of the damage as-
some cases the personalities do not personalities also exhibit reasonable
sessment concluded that his person-
readily fit any one of these types. stability of mood over time and

30 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy?

While problematic personality features are essential, they

in different contexts; experience, are not sufficient to provoke espionage. The majority of
express, and contain a wide range of people who have some, or even many, of the personality
emotions; show tactical adaptability features described above will never engage in criminal
alongside good long-range planning conduct.
and self-discipline; and demonstrate
ethical behavior across various situ-
ations. —CIA mole Rick Amesb frustration at not being able to pro-
vide his children with a more affluent
In contrast to exhibiting a mix of I think I was pissed off in the and sophisticated lifestyle are exam-
positive features to temper problem fact that all my expectations on ples of how a psychological crisis
characteristics, pathological person- what the job would be like were can lead to espionage. To all external
alities tend to be structured around a falling short and I guess I was appearances, this GS-15 case officer
few dominant, relatively uninhibited perhaps bitter about the situa- was progressing well in his career
characteristics. The complexity of tion as it was and that may have and, while not in a superior financial
healthy personalities enables them been part of the motive but I’m position, was living a solidly mid-
to deploy an array of coping strate- not sure because when I look dle-class lifestyle. This view did not
gies depending on the nature of the back it’s not really all that clear. match his internal sentiments of frus-
challenges they have to address. In tration and failure, which led him to
—Former CIA watch officer
contrast, pathological personalities volunteer to spy for the Russians. He
William Kampiles
possess a limited range of coping was prompted by the arrest of fellow
techniques. People with personality While problematic personality case officer Rick Ames and his ob-
pathology tend to adhere stubborn- features are essential, they are not servation that Ames had experienced
ly to a few approaches to problem sufficient to provoke espionage. The a long and financially lucrative run
solving and have difficulty adjust- majority of people who have some, or of espionage for the same customer.
ing, changing, and growing despite even many, of the personality features Nicholson believed his tradecraft was
repeated evidence that their strategies described above will never engage in better than Ames’s and that he would
for dealing with life are not working criminal conduct. Espionage must be not be caught.
adequately. triggered by a crisis and the per-
Navy spy Jonathan Pollard also
son’s assessment that illicit criminal
went through a psychological crisis
conduct offers the solution to or an
just prior to his espionage—he later
Precipitating Crises escape from the crisis. The precip-
described it as a spiritual crisis. In
I’m growing extremely tired of itating crisis may be self-evident to
contrast to Nicholson, however.
American society, American observers—for example, the breakup
Pollard was experiencing work and
modern day values, American of a marriage, the loss of a job, or
financial problems alongside his
class consciousness, American bankruptcy. But it can also be private
psychological crisis. In debriefings
TV, American law, American and invisible. Such psychological
after his arrest, Pollard said he had
consumerism, American hypoc- crises as feeling intensely frustrated
resolved to spy for Israel in a state of
risy. and humiliated at being consistently
deep anger and frustration after the
outperformed at work by peers can be
US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut
—CIA spy Jim Nicholsona just as acute and painful as externally
was bombed in 1983. He claimed
evident problems.
What I was thinking? How was I that he “walked out of the memorial
thinking? It was a very busy and CIA officer Jim Nicholson’s sense service [for the Marines] committed
stressful period both profession- of deep personal humiliation at not to doing something that would guar-
ally and personally and it was having savings in the bank and his antee Israel’s security even though it
like a leap in the dark. might involve a degree of potential

b. “Ames on the Inside,” CNN Interview

a. Nicholson, personal journal entry, 15 July with Wolf Blitzer and Bob Franken, 27 De-
1985. cember 1994.

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 31

Why Spy?

Jeffrey Carney: The Spy Codenamed “The Kid”

Jeffrey Carney enlisted in the US Air Force on his 17th birthday in 1980 and was granted a top secret clearance a year later.
He began spying for East Germany’s Ministry of State Security (MfS) in 1983 while working as a linguist at Marienfelde Base
in West Berlin. He continued spying at his next post in Texas, from which he abruptly deserted in 1985. The MfS exfiltrated
and resettled him in Berlin, where he helped them target Americans. When the Iron Curtain fell, his handlers abandoned him
and tipped off US authorities; he was arrested in 1991.

Carney’s initial motivation for his walk-in was a sense of betrayal by family, friends, and supervisors. His family background
was painful and unstable, including severe physical and emotional abuse and neglect and the frequent disappearance of
his father. Carney described himself as having been a lonely child, an “underdog” who felt inferior and had a burning desire
to prove his worth. He dropped out of high school to help support his mother financially, including paying for her divorce
from his father. When he visited home in 1983 on leave, he was shocked to find his father living there. After an acrimonious
visit, he returned to Germany, nursing feelings of bitterness and inadequacy. He was also coming to terms with his homo-
sexuality, which at the time put his military career at risk. In addition, Carney was deeply dissatisfied with the Air Force.
Despite salient intellectual gifts, he was unable to sustain an unblemished work record, had been decertified as a language
instructor, and had trouble regaining his credentials. He was outraged by his decertification, which he blamed on his super-
visors’ ill will, and felt humiliated and embarrassed.

On the night of his impulsive attempt to defect to East Germany, all of the acquaintances and friends he approached
rejected his overtures to go out. He went alone to some bars, had several drinks, and contemplated suicide. At one bar, he
happened to read an article about a Taiwanese pilot who defected to mainland China, was feted as a hero, honored with a
parade, and given money. “I’ll show them, I’ll show them all,” was Carney’s reaction. Acting on this thought, he took a cab to
Checkpoint Charlie, walked across, and presented himself to the East Germans as a defector. They quickly convinced him
to go back to his post at Marienfelde as a spy.

After his routine reassignment in 1984 to a domestic post, Carney became preoccupied with the announcement that all
employees with access to sensitive compartmented information (SCI) would be polygraphed. He was also furious with Air
Force doctors, who refused to operate on what he believed was a hernia. When he threatened to go to the inspector gen-
eral with his complaint, he was referred for a psychological evaluation and became concerned that drugs would be used
to make him say things beyond his control, exposing both his espionage and his homosexuality. He deserted and flew to
Mexico City, presenting himself unannounced to the East Germans. Upon his resettlement in East Berlin, the MfS tasked
him with transcribing intercepted conversations of US military and embassy personnel, from which he discerned their
responsibilities, attitudes, relationships, and personalities. If he felt that particular individuals were vulnerable, he wrote an
assessment describing their situation and suggesting the best recruitment approach. Carney claimed that the MfS appar-
ently prized his work.

After his arrest,a Carney readily confessed to his espionage and said that it helped him regain a sense of personal pride
and purpose. “Each time I took information out,” he asserted, “I felt like I was slapping my supervisors in the face.” He also
expressed bitterness that the US government had violated his German rights by forcibly taking him away from his home,
his personal belongings, and his common-law spouse. Carney’s impulsive decision to defect in a time of despair, along with
the psychological stability and sense of achievement and purpose that he temporarily gained once engaged in espionage,
demonstrate the role that stress and crisis can play in motivating a vulnerable person to seek a solution through espionage.

Carney was released in 2002 after serving 11 years of a 38-year sentence. He attempted to return to Germany, claiming
German citizenship, but he was denied entry because the East Germans had never granted him citizenship.

a. In his memoir Carney quotes himself as asking the OSI officers arresting him “What took you so long?” (Against All Enemies,
592); he also claims to have made several attempts during the arrest to assert rights as a German citizen but was told to shut up. FBI
Special Agent Robert Hanssen also contemptuously asked the FBI colleagues arresting him, “What took you so long?” Both Hanssen
and Carney demonstrated the reflexive grandiosity described in the personality section of this article in this sarcastic comment. When
he was arrested, Ames said, “You’re making a big mistake! You must have the wrong man!” demonstrating the automatic cunning and
slipperiness characteristic of psychopaths.

32 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy?

States of crisis often result in patterns of thinking that

risk and personal sacrifice.” During
a degrade judgment and behavior.
this same period, Pollard had several
heated discussions with his super-
or to find a way to escape it at all he didn’t directly teach me a lot,
visor regarding chronic tardiness,
costs. Most significant with respect to but indirectly I learned an awful
conflicts with coworkers, and inabil-
motivation for espionage, a person in lot . . . in terms of what the Soviets
ity to complete assignments. More-
this state of mind can acquire “tunnel are all about.
over, the Pollards frequently were late
paying their rent or their rent checks vision,” in which the person’s atten- Journalist: How would you arrange
bounced; the Navy Federal Credit tion becomes riveted on the current to contact the other side [KGB]
Union reported him delinquent in crisis. This fixation on the present can and meet?
repaying a loan. He and his wife were degrade long-term planning and the
capacity to anticipate lasting con- Spy: Through a go-between, a Soviet
witnessed using cocaine and marijua- Embassy officer, who’s not a KGB
na at parties, and an anonymous call sequences. Such mental conditions
make a person vulnerable to taking officer. We had an overt relation-
to the Navy’s security service report- ship–I was assessing the guy [for
ed that Pollard had been involved in badly judged actions.
CIA] to see if he’d be of value as a
an altercation in Georgetown.b While life crises are ubiquitous, target and did develop him a little
criminal responses remain rare. bit–so this [meeting with a Soviet]
Robert Hanssen began spying
Personality flaws that weaken moral is all approved [by the CIA]c
after an assignment to the FBI’s
New York Field Office caused such reasoning, judgment, and control over —CIA mole Rick Ames
financial strain on his family that, impulsive behavior are aggravated
on one occasion, his wife broke into by the sense of immediate threat, “You need to show us that you
their children’s piggy banks to collect urgent need to escape, and tunnel are serious.” His voice had mel-
enough change to carry the family vision common to crises. A person lowed. “You can be a soldier on
through until the next paycheck. Air with personality problems is therefore the Invisible Front. What good
Force spy Jeffrey Carney impulsive- doubly vulnerable to misjudgments are you here? [in East Ger-
ly defected to East Germany in the and misconduct in a crisis. Converse- many]” he asked rhetorically.
course of a night of drinking alone, ly, people who as a rule have strong “Here, you are one person with
contemplating suicide, and brooding judgment, good self-control, and perhaps a little ability to make
on his loneliness and ill-usage by healthy consciences have more insu- a difference. There [as a mole
family, friends and supervisors. lation against tendencies to impulsive inside the US Air Force], work-
action or misconduct when under the ing for peace – and you don’t
States of crisis often result in pat- pressures of crisis. even have to be Communist or
terns of thinking that degrade judg- Special Handling Socialist – you can make a great
ment and behavior. A person in crisis difference! You will have earned
typically experiences a sense of threat Journalist: Why did you make the de- your right to come and stay
alongside a severe loss of control. cision to work for the other side? here.” . . . There are those who
The combined result frequently is a Spy: Some of that started in the 70’s say I was brainwashed, but that
feeling of paralysis or helplessness, in New York [before volunteer- is not true. While it is true that
a desire to either fight the situation ing to spy for the Russians in the I originally lacked the convic-
1980’s] tion I claimed that fateful April
morning, I would soon need lit-
Journalist: Why?
a. Director of Central Intelligence, Foreign tle prodding to betray my former
Denial and Deception Analysis Committee, Spy: As you know, I knew some colleagues [in the US military].
The Jonathan Jay Pollard Espionage Case: Soviets in New York who were . . . In my naiveté I also was
A Damage Assessment, 30 October 1987 very interesting. The chief Pravda
(MORI DocID: 1346933). Available at representative in New York and I
https://www.archives.gov/files/declassifica- had lunch together every couple of c. “Why I Spied: Aldrich Ames,” New York
tion/iscap/pdf/2007-010-doc1.pdf.
weeks for about three years. And Times interview with Tim Weiner, 31 July
b. Ibid. 1994.

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 33

Why Spy?

Exploitation of the Vulnerable

The “Handling” of Sharon Scranage
A well-trained espionage recruiter
Sharon Scranage compromised CIA staff officers, agents, and operations while will search for vulnerable targets.
serving as a secretary and administrator in Africa from 1983 to 1985. Her spying Professional intelligence officers
necessitated the exfiltration and resettlement of numerous African agents and are trained to spot outward signs of
their families. The total cost of her espionage has been estimated to be several trouble in a person’s history or behav-
million dollars.
ior—such as tumultuous relationships
Scranage joined the CIA in 1976 as a clerk-stenographer. She consistently or frequent job changes—and to
received favorable performance reports, including appreciative comments evaluate the deeper, more enduring
about her pleasant and dedicated workplace demeanor. Her private life was psychological dysfunctions that may
less settled, however. She divorced her husband of two years in 1980, after he be at the root of the problems. These
had become physically and psychologically abusive, including hitting her and
threatening her with a gun.
professional recruiters are trained to
deploy sophisticated psychological
Only two days after Scranage’s arrival at her post in Africa in 1983, a State De- control techniques matched to the
partment communicator introduced her to the man who subsequently became vulnerabilities they have detected in
her handler. He quickly drew her into a sexual affair and—apparently working order to manipulate, apply pressure,
from an accurate assessment of Scranage’s susceptibility to psychological
abuse—began to use a combination of affection and fear to increase his power
or induce a person to commit espio-
over her and to elicit more and more sensitive information from her. In addi- nage.
tion to establishing a sexual relationship with her and thus asserting physical
control, Scranage’s handler also used verbal intimidation and threats to deter Some intelligence services do not
her from revealing what she had done to station personnel and to isolate her limit themselves to exploiting pre-
socially from sources of support in the station and community. He systemati- existing problems, but may actively
cally assaulted her trust in CIA and her most senior manager, arguing that this foster crises to enhance the target’s
manager had put her in her present position. Her handler also fed her dread susceptibility to recruitment. Com-
of being discovered and made veiled threats to harm those agency personnel
and their family members with whom she appeared close. By such means,
mon forms of such aggressive pursuit
Scranage’s handler positioned himself as her preeminent authority figure and and manipulation of targets include
protector rather than the CIA and her managers and colleagues. In hindsight, emotional or sexual entrapment
she described herself as “a puppet” in his hands. After her arrest, Scranage and financial manipulation through
consistently expressed profound remorse for her espionage. increasing the target’s level of debt.
A psychologically vulnerable target’s
grandiosity, sense of being above the
unable to sense my true value to up on me. Giving up on me is a rules, or vengeful impulses can all be
the MfS in those early days, and mistake. I have proven inveter- manipulated in the service of recruit-
it would be many years later ately loyal and willing to take ment.
before I understood the damage grave risks, which even could
I had caused the United States cause my death, only remain- The role of such manipulations by
ing quiet in times of extreme a potential customer and the prospec-
—Air Force spy Jeffrey Carney, uncertainty. So far my ship tive spy’s own sense of the ease and
describing his recruitmenta has successfully navigated the safety of espionage are often underes-
slings and arrows of outrageous timated as key factors in increasing or
I have come about as close as I
fortune. I ask you to help me decreasing motivation. Adept profes-
ever want to come to sacrificing
survive. sional handlers depict themselves not
myself to help you, and I get
silence. I hate silence. . . . It’s only as willing to reward espionage
—FBI mole Robert Hanssen, in but also as capable of safeguard-
been a long time dear friends, letters to his handlersb
a long and lonely time. . . . ing their agent. Good professional
Perhaps you occasionally give “handling” is designed not only to
collect classified information but also
b. Excerpts from Hanssen’s letters to his to stabilize and reassure the spy in
Russian handlers, dated 15 July 1988, the interest of sustaining his or her
a. Carney, Against All Enemies, 155–56. 14 March 2000, and 17 November 2000.

34 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)

 Why Spy?

capacity to commit espionage for tap into this informal reservoir of such reviews can pinpoint problems
as long as possible. As a result, the observations to identify maladaptive they do not necessarily ameliorate or
relationship between an agent and a patterns that would put an intelli- fix them. Programs of education and
handler is frequently highly personal, gence organization at risk. support for the cleared workforce
intense, and emotional, at least from must supplement the safeguards
the perspective of the spy, and the While such medical and security provided by regular reviews. Edu-
nature of this relationship is often a screenings of applicants are the first cational programs regarding dan-
powerful force behind an individual’s line of defense, ongoing security ger signs can assist employees and
choice to spy. reviews of the employee population managers in spotting emotional or
are the second line, with the intent of behavioral problems in colleagues or
detecting personnel who demonstrate subordinates, or even occasionally in
Remedies and Risk patterns of troubling attitudes or themselves, before they evolve into
behaviors and intervening before seri- serious counterintelligence or security
Management ous misconduct occurs. The typology problems.
How people who have the poten- of psychological factors in espionage
tial to spy gain clearances and secure presented here has been helpful in Effective follow-through once
entry into the Intelligence Commu- organizing observations regarding the problems have been spotted is imper-
nity, how they progress and function personalities, behaviors, and life cir- ative in the form of active and well-
once inside, and how the risk they cumstances of captured spies, with an staffed medical support for troubled
pose might be mitigated are questions eye to developing countermeasures employees. It is especially important
of critical interest to security and and risk-mitigation strategies applica- to make such services available to
counterintelligence personnel as well ble to the workplace. employees who identify their own
as to medical and management pro- problems and come forward to seek
fessionals. The risk of spying can be Routine security and counterin- support voluntarily.
mitigated through programs designed telligence reviews of applicants and
to spot and address warning signs at staff should not be the only lines of Finally, case studies of apprehend-
each stage of an employee’s career defense, however, because while ed spies have demonstrated that some
and by providing support services to
troubled employees once they have The Anger of Edward Lee Howard
been identified or by disciplining Howard was dismissed from the CIA in 1983 after a polygraph exam indicated
them appropriately. he was involved in petty theft and drug use. In the months after his dismissal,
he moved to New Mexico with his wife, Mary. His alcohol abuse escalated, and
The entry points into an organi- he became increasingly angry at what he perceived to be the agency’s unfair
zation can be safeguarded through treatment. Howard claimed he provided information to the Russian KGB and
rigorous security and psychological eventually defected to Russia when he became aware of US surveillance of his
evaluations of applicants designed activities, while believing he was unfairly targetted and accused. A book about
Howard by David Wise and Howard’s own memoir, though filled with significant
to spot and weed out chronically
errors of fact, provide good examples of how a vulnerable person’s sense of
dysfunctional people unsuitable for disgruntlement and perceived ill-usage can provide the impetus to turn to es-
clearances. Patterns of personality pionage and the flawed, but compelling, justification for doing so.a Readers will
deficiencies that can result in trouble notice similar strands of acrimony and disgruntlement in the Carney, Pollard, and
both at work and in personal lives not Hanssen cases.
only attract the attention of trained
Howard’s death in Russia was reported on 22 July 2002. He supposedly broke
observers of human behavior—such his neck in a fall at his dacha, but the exact circumstances have never been
as psychologists and case officers— made public.
but also can be registered by more
incidental observers, such as cowork-
a. David Wise, The Spy Who Got Away: The Inside Story of the CIA Agent Who Betrayed
ers and neighbors. For this reason, His Country’s Secrets and Escaped to Moscow (Random House, 1988) and Edward Lee
background checks in the security Howard, Safe House: The Compelling Memoirs of the Only CIA Spy to Seek Asylum in
clearances process are designed to Russia (National Press Books, 1995).

Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017) 35

Why Spy?

began their espionage in a state of disgruntlement and, on a pragmatic has been violated. It would be con-
crisis marked by intense anger and level, making efforts to provide for soling if the capture of major spies in
frustration, and sometimes by finan- job placement programs and psy- recent years and the end of the Cold
cial desperation, after being fired or chological and financial counseling War signaled a downward trend in
in anticipation of termination. (See services to assist the person in estab- espionage. But the impetus to spy
textbox on Edward Lee Howard on lishing a stable lifestyle outside of grows out of the human psyche, and
preceding page.) the Intelligence Community. personality dysfunctions, personal
crises, and opportunities to serve oth-
Prudent risk mitigation in cases The Intelligence Community er masters will never vanish. Under-
of termination or forced resignation recoils every time a spy is caught. standing the elements of espionage
should include, when possible, safe- Laws have been broken, national is critical to remaining vigilant and
guarding the dignity of the person to security has been breached, and the safeguarding the vital mission of US
inhibit feelings of vengefulness and bond among patriotic professionals intelligence.

v v v

36 Studies in Intelligence Vol. 61, No. 2 (Extracts, June 2017)